silkie and gold sebright bantam

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

have had these 2 chicks in brooder for 2 weeks now, the bantam is just 2 weeks and the silkie is just 6 weeks, noticed yesterday that these 2 have been chasing eachother and doing the butting thing with their chest....like they keep attacking eachother...are they just playing or do i need to separate them into 2 different cages

 

[Ms Clucky]

They might be just playing. Pretty young, so they won't hurt each other. If they turn out to be both roosters, you will have to separate them. Do you have pics? I used to have 2 Golden Sebrights. This little one

turned out to be a girl

This little one @ five weeks

turned out to be a rooster.

Which is Nuggets dad

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

ok here is the pic

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

there is my little gold sebright

 

[Ms Clucky]

ok here is the picView attachment 1740758 View attachment 1740759 View attachment 1740760

Looks like its going to be a rooster by the way its tail is standing up

 

[chickendreams24]

Just because there are two roosters doesn't mean they automatically have to be separated.

We have more than a dozen mature roosters and other than for pure breeding eggs all of our roosters live and run together.

Now note we keep docile breeds, we also breed for it, we also free range except when birds are separated for breeding. Of course it also depends on the birds as individuals, if they were raised together, and how many pullets/hens are in the flock as well because of course too many cockerals or roosters can be rough on hens and even injure them.

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

Just because there are two roosters doesn't mean they automatically have to be separated.

We have more than a dozen mature roosters and other than for pure breeding eggs all of our roosters live and run together.

Now note we keep docile breeds, we also breed for it, we also free range except when birds are separated for breeding. Of course it also depends on the birds as individuals, if they were raised together, and how many pullets/hens are in the flock as well because of course too many cockerals or roosters can be rough on hens and even injure them.

OK....i have a question, i have a total of 23 chickens...16 of them are hens...and just discovered one of my buff orp is a rooster...( it is my first, and he is just about 15 weeks)
i have one baby silkie,( 6 weeks old)..a couple weeks ago the other silkie we had was eaten by a raccoon.....so we went to TSC and got 4 bantams to keep the silkie company....of course those 5 birds are not sexed, so i dont know what they are, hens or roos.....my question is....i plan on housing the silkie with the 4 bantams in a coop separate from my flock of 17..only because these birds are so much smaller than my other chickens.....what if they are all roos???? can they still live together......im not really interested in hatching my own eggs...except it i was to get a silkie, (id love another one)..do i need 2 silkies to get a silkie egg......?

 

[chickendreams24]

OK....i have a question, i have a total of 23 chickens...16 of them are hens...and just discovered one of my buff orp is a rooster...( it is my first, and he is just about 15 weeks)
i have one baby silkie,( 6 weeks old)..a couple weeks ago the other silkie we had was eaten by a raccoon.....so we went to TSC and got 4 bantams to keep the silkie company....of course those 5 birds are not sexed, so i dont know what they are, hens or roos.....my question is....i plan on housing the silkie with the 4 bantams in a coop separate from my flock of 17..only because these birds are so much smaller than my other chickens.....what if they are all roos???? can they still live together......im not really interested in hatching my own eggs...except it i was to get a silkie, (id love another one)..do i need 2 silkies to get a silkie egg......?

Okay first as long as there are multiple bantams in a flock, especially if they are raised with the large fowl they should be fine. Particularly if the large fowl are docile breeds and they're raised together.

Birds with crests, feathered feet or unusual feathers such as silkies or frizzles I always suggest there are more than one of these varieties in a flock. The more the better as the flock sees it on multiple birds and recognizes it as normal. Otherwise a flock can pick on the one different bird because they're "strange".

Silkies especially in my experience tend to do just fine with birds.

Some people think bantams can not be raised with large fowl because of the size difference. Some people may have even had a bad experience but in my experience and those I've known with large and bantam fowl living together they've done just fine.

If your bantams turn out to be all cockerals you could have them live pretty well together as long as there are no pullets/hens in with them. If you place pullets or hens in with them they will fight over her and could harm each other and her. A group of cockerals/roosters living together is called a bachelor group.

A male chick under a year old is called a cockeral, over a year he's called a rooster.

A female chick under a year is called a pullet, over a hear she's called a hen.

So that vocabulary lesson out of the way what do you have pullets or hens and a cockeral or a rooster?

Yes you need two silkies to get a silkie egg(or rather an egg that will be a pure silkie).

The silkie gene is recessive and each parent needs to be silkie feathered(or carry the silkie gene to parent a silkie feathered chick). If you crossed your silkie with say a buff Orpington the chick(s) would carry the silkie gene but not be silkie feathered. The chicks would be crested and have somewhat feathered feet but have smooth(normal feathers).

So to summarize if your bantams end up all being male and you house them away from your female birds so they can't see them then they could potentially live together mostly peacefully. This depends on the breeds and temperaments of each of the individual birds.

If they end up being mixed genders you could potentially have them live with your main flock depending on the number of male/females.

Just keep an eye on your buff Orpington cockeral if your "hens" are actually pullets of the same age as him. He will likely mature more quickly than the pullets and may begin trying to breed them before they are receptive. Immature cockerals trying to breed girls can get hard to see. Cockerals can often become frustrated if they don't have a mature hen or rooster keeping them in line and can take out their frustrations by flogging uncooperative pullets/hens. This is more of an issue if you have more than one cockeral or a worse ratio.

Silkies are hard to sex accurately when young and many can't be sexed until around 12 weeks. If you would like to send me some photos in natural light of your silkie standing and also a close up of it's comb then I can try and give you an idea of gender.


I hope this helps let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

Okay first as long as there are multiple bantams in a flock, especially if they are raised with the large fowl they should be fine. Particularly if the large fowl are docile breeds and they're raised together.

Birds with crests, feathered feet or unusual feathers such as silkies or frizzles I always suggest there are more than one of these varieties in a flock. The more the better as the flock sees it on multiple birds and recognizes it as normal. Otherwise a flock can pick on the one different bird because they're "strange".

Silkies especially in my experience tend to do just fine with birds.

Some people think bantams can not be raised with large fowl because of the size difference. Some people may have even had a bad experience but in my experience and those I've known with large and bantam fowl living together they've done just fine.

If your bantams turn out to be all cockerals you could have them live pretty well together as long as there are no pullets/hens in with them. If you place pullets or hens in with them they will fight over her and could harm each other and her. A group of cockerals/roosters living together is called a bachelor group.

A male chick under a year old is called a cockeral, over a year he's called a rooster.

A female chick under a year is called a pullet, over a hear she's called a hen.

So that vocabulary lesson out of the way what do you have pullets or hens and a cockeral or a rooster?

Yes you need two silkies to get a silkie egg(or rather an egg that will be a pure silkie).

The silkie gene is recessive and each parent needs to be silkie feathered(or carry the silkie gene to parent a silkie feathered chick). If you crossed your silkie with say a buff Orpington the chick(s) would carry the silkie gene but not be silkie feathered. The chicks would be crested and have somewhat feathered feet but have smooth(normal feathers).

So to summarize if your bantams end up all being male and you house them away from your female birds so they can't see them then they could potentially live together mostly peacefully. This depends on the breeds and temperaments of each of the individual birds.

If they end up being mixed genders you could potentially have them live with your main flock depending on the number of male/females.

Just keep an eye on your buff Orpington cockeral if your "hens" are actually pullets of the same age as him. He will likely mature more quickly than the pullets and may begin trying to breed them before they are receptive. Immature cockerals trying to breed girls can get hard to see. Cockerals can often become frustrated if they don't have a mature hen or rooster keeping them in line and can take out their frustrations by flogging uncooperative pullets/hens. This is more of an issue if you have more than one cockeral or a worse ratio.

Silkies are hard to sex accurately when young and many can't be sexed until around 12 weeks. If you would like to send me some photos in natural light of your silkie standing and also a close up of it's comb then I can try and give you an idea of gender.


I hope this helps let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

THAT WAS WONDERFUL...TY TY