G'morning~ Silkies are just one of those odd breeds that is more like an angora rabbit, than a chicken. The hatchery stock is less likely to have the vaulted skulls and thus less problems. Its when you get into those super fluffy show birds that actually get the problems usually. For many years people thought in order to get those huge crests on them, they had to only breed from those abnormally large vaulted chicks. In fact, the genes that determine crest size are separate and you can get those huge crests on non-vaulted birds too. From my experience at least, those vaults cause nothing but problems from the start. The chicks have problems pipping and a lot of them can't get out of the shell. You see a lot go full term, but just never hatch. On juveniles under 4 months usually, you see a lot of cases of death or even wryneck from getting bonked on the head, pecked by another chick, etc. The cockerels aren't usually very gentle in their first mating efforts and this is the stage when they usually hurt those young pullets. Even last week I transferred the last of my babies out to the barn and not sure if I crowded them in boxes, but had 2 of them come out tucking their heads between their legs and I eventually culled them. On adults, the vaults often give the hens a tri-lobed mushroom shaped crest, instead of the nice round crest. On cocks, it will provide a nice backdrop for the crest and kind of hide bigger combs though. Still these birds are susceptible to a well placed peck or bonk to the head. I've had it happen in show birds on the way to shows if they jump up and hit their head in carrier or get too hot in there. If you have a low quality food, you will see vitamin deficiencies that can cause it too. Something as simple as storms and extreme swings in temp and barometric pressure can set them off. On the minor cases, I've seen people have luck treating with Vitamin E and selenium and/or prednisone. From what I've seen over the years though is those same birds will always resort back to the head bobble if stressed again.
An actual vaulted silkie skull:
Now this is a weird occurrence: Had a polish chick hatch about a month ago with no skin on the head. You really can see how there is no bone up there and brain is exposed. I've had a couple of these hatch like this over the years, just first time I grabbed pics.
An actual vaulted silkie skull:
Now this is a weird occurrence: Had a polish chick hatch about a month ago with no skin on the head. You really can see how there is no bone up there and brain is exposed. I've had a couple of these hatch like this over the years, just first time I grabbed pics.
