Reviews by Sylvester017

4 years ago we picked up 2 DNA-sexed female Silkie chicks from a local Silkie breeder. One chick was so obnoxious and hyperactive she peeped all the way home from the breeder and kept picking at the other calmer chick. She was aggressive all through her juvenile, pullet, and adult growth. The calmer chick figured how to stay out of her way as much as possible. And as an adult when the aggressive hen goes "broody" her behavior is worse and actively chases the calmer Silkie around the yard. Sorry - but nothing in this article helped our situation to calm down an aggressive bird. We have an old Dominique hen integrated with the 2 adult Silkie hens and the Dominique will peck at the aggressive Silkie hen and then the aggressive Silkie hen turns around and pecks at the calmer Silkie hen. It's like watching 3 circus clowns!

Tapping the aggressive chick on the back to stop her obnoxious behaviors never worked, isolating her never worked, trimming her crest feathers to see better to stop her hyper-sensitivity didn't work, isolating the other calmer Silkie to gain confidence to stand up to the agggressive Silkie didn't work, having the older Dominique hen act as a referee didn't work! Ugh!

I'm sure this article helps a lot of owners with chicks but it just never worked for us

@Lacy Duckwing -- I have used the method of isolating the timid bird from the flock and it does boost her confidence to where she's returned to the flock & doesn't pay attention to the bully. If a timid bird continues victim behavior other birds will join bullying. But once the timid bird is isolated for a few days she returns to the flock unafraid. I've noticed sometimes a broody bird gets picked on by others so I isolate broodies too till they break the broody behavior (I don't have a roo or raise chicks so when a hen goes broody we break her to keep her from getting picked on). Birds can be mean to each other -- just like mean bullies in a children's playground!

Love reading all the varied responses to this great article. As always every breed and every individual bird within a breed responds differently toward different adults and different children. Stay "tuned in" to your baby birds and you'll eventually learn to trust each other at your own paces, My farm Mom always said baby chicks were delicate -- some were hardy but some might die right away. I heeded that advice to be careful about 3 baby chicks we brought home from the feed store (picked up on the same day they had arrived from a hatchery shipment) a couple years ago -- but after Day 1 in a kiddie pool the little Dominiques were ready to jump around, explore, and run to us when they saw or heard us talking to them! I wanted to be calm and leave them alone but those little buggers couldn't wait to jump and peck at our feet and beg for fresh chick feed in their feeder even though it was already filled! Just never know what kind of personality new chicks will display!

Chickens are pets or very shortly after acquiring them become unwittingly our pets. We have an 8-yr-old Silkie hen who never was good at producing eggs but is still a valuable flock member. She knows where the bugs hide out in the yard, she has a routine going-to-roost evening cluck accompanying final preening of the day, her poops are as good a garden bed fertilizer as any other flock member's poops, she loves to find newly sprouted weeds, the newer hens watch her to find where all the good bugs and tender weeds are, and surprisingly the little 2-lb hen commands pecking order status for first dibs on treats and the younger bigger hens submit! She's also a sweet gardening companion who stays with me when all the other impatient hens run off. Have I mentioned how entertaining hens are and what beautiful eye-candy they are in the yard? Yes, hens are valuable members far beyond their egg-laying life!

SPUNKY PERSONALITY-PLUS SILKIE NO LONGER WITH US - layed eggs into her 6th year!


DAINTY PARTRIDGE SILKIE STILL WITH US AT 8-YRS