Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[TJAnonymous]

They are all so beautiful! So much fluff
I love how they enjoy their run!
It looks to me like sweet little Twitch could be a boy. Not sure about the other sweeties.
Twitch's eye itself looks so clear and like a beautiful black pearl - a blocked tear duct really makes sense.
Does (s)he scratch the eye?

He does scratch at it once in a while. When I would put antibiotic eye drops in his eye, he would scratch at it like crazy and bob his head in a weird, twitchy way... Thus his name.

I held almost everyone today. Some complained at first but after they figured out I wasn't going to eat them, they all became so friendly! It was such a great time with them all!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Sweet little Imari Those little wattles are so cute!
How is Kinoko doing in the meanwhile?

Thanks Kinoko is doing well. Back to her old self. Unfortunately we lost Yuki yesterday.
I’m not sure exactly what happened but I think she got something stuck in her crop and was unable to digest any food. Literally went from fine to not fine overnight. Tried treating her with different medication and coconut oil but to no avail. First time I’ve lost a chick this age.
Part of having chickens. I’m not letting the other two youngsters back out in the A-frame until I am sure there’s nothing there they can get into.

 

[LynnaePB]

Had the chance to get some close ups today.

One of the lavender paints. I think this is a Roo?

View attachment 2695614
View attachment 2695616

The one I named Twitch (with the bad eye that I think is a blocked tear duct). I think he is a Roo too?
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Another white one. Roo?View attachment 2695622

Aww your little guys are growing up to be so beautiful!

I think they may need a little more time to fully get their streamers in after seeing them. The first little guy has an awfully large comb for his age though so I'd guess he is most likely a he.

Thanks Kinoko is doing well. Back to her old self. Unfortunately we lost Yuki yesterday.
I’m not sure exactly what happened but I think she got something stuck in her crop and was unable to digest any food. Literally went from fine to not fine overnight. Tried treating her with different medication and coconut oil but to no avail. First time I’ve lost a chick this age.
Part of having chickens. I’m not letting the other two youngsters back out in the A-frame until I am sure there’s nothing there they can get into.

I'm so sorry about little Yuki, it sounds like you did everything you could for her.

So glad to hear Kinoko is back to normal now though. I hope you won't be dealing with anymore injuries or death anytime soon!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Some sassy paint attitude! Lol

 

[Chickeria]

Thanks Kinoko is doing well. Back to her old self. Unfortunately we lost Yuki yesterday.
I’m not sure exactly what happened but I think she got something stuck in her crop and was unable to digest any food. Literally went from fine to not fine overnight. Tried treating her with different medication and coconut oil but to no avail. First time I’ve lost a chick this age.
Part of having chickens. I’m not letting the other two youngsters back out in the A-frame until I am sure there’s nothing there they can get into.

Oh no - I'm so sorry you lost sweet little Yuki yesterday, what a shock
You tried everything for her
It is so difficult when everything happens so fast and without recognizable cause

 

[Chickeria]

So glad to hear Kinoko recovered so well and is back to her old self

 

[TJAnonymous]

I sat outside with the Silkies for a while today. There's a black one whom I. I'm pretty sure is a girl. She has a very uniform crown and a small comb. She has decided that she likes to be held and loved on. She settled down next to me which I thought was so sweet! I've decided she has earned the name Minette.... There's a couple more I've named but I don't want to ruin my upcoming post where I will debut names.

I am trying to come up with a good name for the lavender paint roo. I picked him up and held him today too. He seemed very offended at first but quickly settled down and started making this weird twirring sound. He didn't seem angry so I think it was a happy sound. When I put him down, he tried to court me with his little dance. I just pushed him away....

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Oh no - I'm so sorry you lost sweet little Yuki yesterday, what a shock
You tried everything for her
It is so difficult when everything happens so fast and without recognizable cause

Thank you so much.
It was a tough day. Yuki tried to hang in there. I buried her under the orange tree.
But on a positive note I just picked up 2 six week old layer pullets, they are quite small and I suspect they have some bantam blood in them. Super sweet, their father is supposed to be a Silverudds blue so they got Swedish names, Astrid and Stella.
Stella is smaller than Eko who is only one week older than her.
They get to hang in the tractor for awhile and eventually will join the others in the bantam coop.
I do not dare add any new birds to my older flock anymore.

 

[PioneerChicks]

Hi PioneerChicks, I think you are right and kestrels are not a problem for chickens (we do have kestrels, too, they brood every year at the neighbour's place).
I'm in Europe and we do have here a species called Eurasian sparrowhawk - as I understand (I loked them up to find the correct name in English) they are luckily not present in the United States!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_sparrowhawk
Males are small, but the females are much bigger and hunt birds to the size of doves. I have witnessed them hunting in my parent's garden (which is kind of a 'forest-garden') - they come easily through the branches like out of nowhere and are very fast. They even look totally like shrinked hawks.

My Silkies are bantams and especially two girls - Herzchen and Schorschette - are very small, much smaller than a dove (they are 7 weeks old now). Poupette and Violetta are on the smaller side, too. The other 8 are about the size of a dove now...
I'm really afraid.

Ah, here in America, sparrowhawk is a nickname for kestrel! Our kestrels can be dangerous to chicks and tiny bantams, but the normally stick to grasshoppers, mice, and sparrows.

Be careful, and good luck!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Well I start alien watch officially Friday. Yes, I've started referring to the hopefully future silkies little aliens. Technically day 21 is Sunday, but, especially when the hens do the hatching they always have at least 1 or 2 hatch on day 19. Plus these are bantam eggs so I really do not think they will go the full 21 days. Momma to be Holly came off the nest for the suspected final time before chicks today and spent a hour off. Stuffing herself and dust bathing several times. Normally she's off for 10 to 15 minutes at most. I've candled the eggs several times and all 8 are going strong and have really good air cells. She could potentially have 1 chick hatch tomorrow sometime as her own egg had a 24 hour head start on the silkies. Even though I refer to them as little aliens, I think I'm looking forward to these chicks now as much as my daughter. I've told her though she shouldn't count her chicks before they hatch, but, if they do the 2 she ends up keeping already have names. Since she say's they have a troll hairdo her 2 shall become Branch and Poppy.