The answer is absolutely yes for the following reasons:. Silkie chickens are extremely affordable pets to own, especially when considering the benefits of keeping them such as access to fresh eggs, pest control, and companionship.
Silkies need a chicken coop, which should be a onetime expense, fresh food and water, and the occasional dust bath to keep mites at bay.
A small fence should also be put up around the area silkies will be allowed to roam. Fortunately, all of these expenses — including the coop and fence — can be kept to a minimum by purchasing premade, simple products or constructing them at home.
Chicken feed is quite cheap when purchased, and silkies can also eat scraps from your home and insects they find themselves hence the natural form of pest control. The coop, food, and water provided to silkies should be kept as clean as possible to ensure the birds stay content and healthy.
Silkies should also be looked over weekly for mites, lice, and changes in health; should lice or mites be found, the entire flock should be treated, which is relatively easy and inexpensive.
Silkies are hardy and resilient, and they are able to thrive in both cold and warm climates. These chickens are long-lived, often having life spans up to around nine years old, and continue to stay beautiful even when older. The fact that silkie chickens are unable to fly due to their fluffy plumage makes them the easiest of all chickens to keep as pets because they are that much easier to contain. They will both end up with fluffy crests!
It might have been attacked by a predator. If you tell me what the bird looked like while dead, then I might be able to figure out the cause or predator. I have three white Silkies, they are such a joy. They do talk to me, one quite loudly when she wants a a treat or spots a chipmunk… I keep reading everywhere not to let them be wet or cold.
Mine want to play in the rain, it drives me crazy with worry after all of the scary stories. They have shelter but they choose to go out in the run to dig for bugs when its wet.
I go touch them to make sure their bodies are warm enough and they seem fine. I started taking care of Chinese Silkies since and I find my quadro set good egg layers.
They can easily fill up my egg trays in less than a week. I just love them being all so soft, fluffy and docile. It is very useful and says about meat and egg production, feeding, housing, and flock diseases. They like grass you could put some in their cage when your around then always talk soft And slow they like a mellow invirirment talk to them a lot let them hear your voice sometimes when they will eat out of your hand if they fell safe and maybe sit on your lap but you have to make them feel safe first.
Good luck. I recently learned that silkies prefer to sleep on the floor or ground, rather than roosting. Something to keep in mind when designing their space. I had one who kept sleeping right under the roost, and other chickens kept pooping on her! I have a little silkie she is black and her name is onyx. She is the sweetest thing in the world. She lives inside the house, we keep a diaper on her. She follows me all over the house, she knows her name and comes when I call her.
I took her to the vet and she is blind. They are the best pets. Maybe get her a baby silkie as a friend a baby would sit right by her. Try rocking her in a rocking chair.
Mine just love it. It is when they are most relaxed and comfortable. After about five minutes of rocking they usually lay their little head on my shoulder and go to sleep. I found a young black silkie in a super market parking lot today. Hi Rob, You can bath him to get any rubbish and muck off his feathers. Then I would recommend giving him some form of electrolytes in his water. Also make sure to give him a health check. Best of luck, Claire. Make sure he has plenty of food and water.
My white silkie is loosing feathers and ends of fociles where feathers were are bleeding. Should I be concerned. Could be molting or related to pin feathers. More info on this here. I have 2 beautiful silkies but I can never be able to hold them especially the male. They come close to me and follow me around but no touching. What shall I do Thank you very much Ida. They will eat out of your hand , with time if your loveimg and mellow with them even sits on your lap they just have to feel safe and loved.
Are these chickens able to stand the weather condition in Southern Africa? If yes, how can we get them or the eggs?
Gets very hot in the summer there. Loved pottering around eating spiders and bugs. Got on well with a muscovie duck, rabbits, guinea pigs and homing pigeons. I have 3 silkie hens that I love. They are not great egg layers, but they are adorable. They love to go up the ladder and snuggle in here for the night. This is also where they lay their eggs. We have a little electric heater and thermostat that keeps the temperature at 0 so they are very comfortable.
I got 4 young silkies couple days old. One obviously was a rooster crowing and attack my wife. We sent him off to a happy 4-H family. Since then the other two that had been very quiet are now crowing. Is there any way to tell? I just started my new adventure with 5 silkie chicks. They have all died after 5 days. I think I did everything right. Anyone else have this happen. Last month I lost the biggest little silkie rooster Ernie. He gave his life defending his two big hens. Lost to the neighbor dog.
He was 3 months short of 10 years old. The hens were so sad I got them a 5 month old silkie rooster to keep them company. Everyone is now doing better. I love silkies. They are great roosters with standard size hens. Wow 10 yrs. Chickens , I really love them.
I have quite a large shed I can convert and keep them in during winter I live in the UK but would also would like to keep them in the house. I have 2 silkies, Sally is a beautiful little buff, and Sissy, a little white snowball. They are so sweet and are house chickens. I just bought 2 little silkie chicks. Thet are absolutely adorable. I look forward to bonding with them and cuddling these little sweeties. Thanks for all of your tips.
How do I prevent this? Do I build a coop with some kind of raised floor? I was planning on building a pallet coop. They are not high mAtenance they are just like any other chicken food water calm invirement and love. Hello I asking the same question about? I just got my silkie yesterday and it already loves me. Everything you said is true. I also have a silkie rooster and I would like to tame it.
Do you have any ideas on how I can do it? I am a 9 year old girl who is tough enough to handle a rooster. My 2 silkie hens have been laying since dec I get an egg a day some times one will lay every day then rest for a day. Mine are good layers. Hello, My school is considering getting chickens next year and I was wondering how sensible it would be to get a silkie. They seem like such adorable and friendly chickens but they would mostly be with elementary schoolers.
Extremely friendly and a good lap chicken choice. Do we need a rooster for our chickens to lay? They are ridiculously adorable and have already proven to be friendly, mellow chicks. More to come as our run new journey continues!
Hello , I also have a pair of silkie among the breeds of chicken in my small farm. But i am worried about them as the female is still not laying eggs although they are already a year old and the female is not showing quite usual behavior which is making me a lot worried. How can we really tell if our silkie has laid a fertilized egg?
She will occasionally sit on the egg for an hour or 2 each day but that is it. Hello, i got my two silkies april of this year. They are both about 18 weeks old now. One is definitely a rooster.. Little pathetic crows that i look forward to every morning! And since the other hasnt crowed and the comb isnt anything near the roosters comb, im pretty sure shes a..
Now im just wondering should she start laying soon? They taste pretty good as Silkies love to free range and find all sorts of greenery and insects, all of which improve the eggs and especially the bright yellow yolks. The yolks of bantam eggs tend to be larger relative to the size of the egg than in large fowl chickens. Silkies are a popular choice for a backyard flock and they make highly fashionable pets, but unfortunately, they are notoriously poor layers!
Your Silkie girls will provide you with approximately — eggs per year. They also start laying later than other chickens, with some hens that might keep you waiting until they are almost a year old before they provide you with a single egg! Silkie eggs are white in color and some may have an off-white or cream color. Just as there are many different chicken breeds, there are many different sizes of eggs. Egg sizes can range from 1. Commercially, an extra-large egg is any egg larger than 2 oz 59g and jumbo anything above 2.
However, some breeds — especially those bred as layers — lay consistently large eggs for you to enjoy. Silkies lay extra small to small eggs. According to the UK standards, a small egg is an egg that weighs less than 53g.
In the US a small egg will weigh Has your Silkie ever laid a record-size egg for the breed? Let us know in the comments! This is just a basic chart with a few choice examples. Check out this video for a nice comparison showing Silkie eggs compared to other chicken eggs and duck eggs.
Although eggs are fairly low in calories, they pack a massive nutritional punch. There are some experts who have even deemed eggs a superfood — right up there with flaxseed, acai, nuts and avocado! The reason why eggs are so incredibly good for you is because they contain all the nutrients required to turn a single cell into a baby chicken.
But if you are worried about eating a potential ball of down, do not fear — not all eggs will eventually turn into baby chickens. An egg needs to be fertilized for this to happen. Some breeds are bred to live longer. I kept German bush fowl for a while and they proved to be exceptionally hardy chickens that seemed to go one forever. Whether you chickens are free range or not and how many predators they come across will effect how long you chickens like.
Free range birds are happier and have much more variety in their feed but are also more likely to be food for foxes and birds of prey. Quality feed and fresh water will give your chickens the nutrients they need to keep themselves healthy whilst producing eggs. Dirty water or parasites for example can easily kill a chicken. The quality of the housing and the care they get will effect how long a bird lives. Small or cramped chicken coops are not good for chickens.
Diseases and parasites can drain or kill a chicken or just make them unthrifty for their life.
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