First Silkie - any special care tips?

[GallusGal]

Oooh. I did a very bad thing. I went to TSC today and in the "assorted bantams" bin, I saw a fluffy, adorable little chick with six toes per foot, dark skin and beak, big black eyes, and a poof of fuzz atop her head. She has got to be a silkie or at least a silkie mix. Now that she is home, I realized that I have all of zero silkie experience and don't really know if their unique feathering demands any special care. I also believe I've read a thread or two on here suggesting that non-silkie chickens may pick on these birds. Does this mean she can't be housed with the other bantams, or is it not written in stone? Any helpful hints from seasoned silkie owners appreciated

 

[SIMPleChick]

My silkie was raised in a group of very diverse Chicky babies, all kinds and all ages and there was no special care and no one picked on him. He was so sweet and made the MOST adorable cooing sounds!!!

 

[QualityPolish]

I haven't owned silkies for awhile but I remember to always check their vent (aka : butts) a few times day.
QP

 

[BarefootMom]

Quote:
It must be silkie day...I picked up 6 FREE silkies off of CL this afternoon- they are not chicks though. 3 hens and 3 roosters---the hens came with 14 eggs that they had been sitting on!!

crazy stuff around here!

 

[CowgirlPenny]

Quote:
It must be silkie day...I picked up 6 FREE silkies off of CL this afternoon- they are not chicks though. 3 hens and 3 roosters---the hens came with 14 eggs that they had been sitting on!!

crazy stuff around here!

LUCKY!

 

[lady feathers]

My little silkie chicks were the ones picking on my other chicks (standards too) they were grabbing tail feathers but that stopped once we got rid of the extras from our order (they can hold their own

)... they are currently in with some standard chicks a few weeks younger than them and some other bantams that are much smaller then they are and everyone is getting along fine In fact one of my silkies kinds protects the two tiny sebrights from the others when they run around crazy like!

The only thing I can say that made them stand out was they were a little bit higher maintenance for the first two weeks because of their extra fluff they did get pasty butt alot (but mine were shipped over 2 days- I think that compounded the problem)! But, that being said, we just kept a close eye gave a few rinses under the faucet and now they are great!

Just be forewarned a few weeks into t they go through a very stragly (if that's a word) awkward phase were they look ridiculous, but they quickly come out of it beautiful and fluffy! Enjoy!

 

[Kitt]

I have 5 Silkie chicks and the main problem I'm having right now is the feet. One has seemed to sprout all leg/feet feathers over night and of course that is the one who loves to step in all the fresh poo.

But other than very regular cleaning of my messy diva ( i hope it is not a roo), they are no problem.

Enjoy your silkies.

 

[koakritters]

our feed store has "assorted bantam silkies" coming in on the 22nd... hehehehehe.... my silkie roo needs a couple silkie females, don't ya think?? then i'd have purebred silkie eggs not the bantam frizzled cochin x silkie crosses.

as for tips, i'd say, just because the thing doesn't crow for the first 6 months of it's life, does NOT mean it's a female...

oh, and I second the feet thing, mine are always sooo dirty!

 

[Jessica_1285]

Congrats on your silkie! I just got my first ever silkies from TSC about 3 weeks ago. Mine are going through that ugly stage right now (be prepared) lol I posted pics of mine on another thread a couple days ago that show the transformation from fluffy to ugly!
I've been caring for them pretty much the same way i would for any other breed, however it seems that I need to clean the brooder more often bc they drag thier leg fluff through the poo. Good luck!