Raising SILKIE CHICKENS: Some Positives About Raising BANTAM Silkies We Have Learned (Year 1)

[@WildwoodTV]

Silkies get under you skin - love them! 💛 They don't really fight, are easily caught, great broodies and mums - way better than incubators. Easy peel eggs perfect size for scotch eggs with a (UK) sausage. Mine don't mind snow (feathered feet) but they avoid rain - today they were strutting like little bodybuilders sticking their wings out to dry! The meat is blue/black 'tho - but supposed to be medicinal 🤷‍♀

[@HickorycroftFarm]

After raising a larger breed of chicken for 14 years, I'm amazed at the silkies. Like you say, they don't really fight. They are far more communal and honestly a lot harder than the internet seems to give them credit for. Being easier to manage is also a huge plus for us! The blue/black meat is actually a quality we really enjoy. As you mentioned, it's supposed to be healthier, but after eating a few silkies now, it's actually pretty tasty (not like dark meat on a more conventional chicken), and they are surprisingly meaty for a bird so small.

[@KleverskoyeFarm]

Isn't the weather awesome right now!

[@HickorycroftFarm]

The weather is wild. So up and down here. We have had 2 days of cold, but they are calling for a big warm-up again next week, 7 degrees for Christmas, so I'm really hoping we can be productive on the homestead over the holidays.

[@dianaj3139]

My White silkie is 4 plus years old... Out of 20 of the original chickens I purchased as baby chicks she is the only survivor... I purchased 10 silkies and 10 Blue hens FULL SIZE... I bought the silkies 2 weeks ahead of the Blue Rocks, because I knew they were smaller at adult size, and I wanted them to have a few weeks advantage on pecking order. It worked out great! one disadvantage in my area is they do NOT sex the silkies, so you get mixed run, turned out 2 normal sized female, 1 tiny hen, and 7 silkie roosters!!! we had a hawk problem, a fox problem, and bobcats. Possibly other predators. After the first full size hen got hauled off by a hawk, my husband watched in disbelief and then yelled and screamed, causing the hawk to drop her in the forest... he figured she died on impact, but at closing the coop time she lined up with the rest of them... little by little over a two year period all but 3 chickens were carried off by fox and bobcats... My last hen was carried off by a fox, but my daughter chased her down and she dropped my hen... she healed from her wounds and continues to hang out in the yard and often takes cover near my family members. Very enjoyable chicky that also has laid some pretty big eggs! ENJOY!!

[@ebonypegasus9864]

Floof

[@lesareding1776]

What do you have in the silkies coop flooring. And do your silkies roost or pile.

[@larrylewis3573]

Dear Chris, I am following very closely your change from Partridge Chanteclers to Silkies. I have a few questions for you.😅 Question 1 : How many hens and how many roosters do you have? It seemed from the visuals that you have them divided into several coops of different flocks. Is this correct? Is this arrangement parallel to your rotation breeding of the Chanteclers? Question 2 : How many eggs does a silkie hen produce per year? I seem to remember it was well below 200? Since the eggs are quite a bit smaller, do you use two silkie eggs to equal one regular egg? Are you getting enough eggs for your family? Question 3 : How are they as a meat bird? Will you be planning to raise enough silkies to produce the same amount of meat as you did with the Chanteclers? Question 4: I am really not up to steam with the threat of avian flu. How confined do you have to keep your silkies from picking up the avian flu? Is the problem of the chickens picking it up from wild birds? I notice that your silkies are not cooped up. What degree of confinement do you have to commit to in order not to contract the avian flu? Thank you and Steph for your regular stream of videos. I enjoy them immensely and appreciate all the thought and skill you put into them. I am looking forward to regular updates on your silkies. All the best with them. Sincerely, Larry Lewis London, Ontario.

[@littlehomesteadbythebeach]

The only thing I'm bit of afraid of for silkies is their tolerance to cold. I know for your climate, they should do great. Here, I'm less sure. They don't have big combs, so it's a plus for them but still. I'm looking foward for your winter review

[@HickorycroftFarm]

It's going to be interesting to see how they do in the winter. Now, we haven't had much in the way of cold weather yet (think the lowest was -13 C), but it's been interesting the Silkies don't seem to be phased by the cold. Now, even the Chanteclers chose to stay indoors when the snow got deep, but the silkies were even out when we had about 4 inches of snow this month and didn't seem bothered by it. Their soft feathers do seem to give them good insulation (though poor waterproofing, not that any chicken is waterproof). But certainly, stay tuned for more on that IF we get a winter lol

[@janew5351]

Great update! Do they roost or use nesting boxes at floor level if they dont fly?

[@HickorycroftFarm]

Our sleep on the floor. It's kind of funny because they kind of pile in on top of each other (probably keeps them really warm, though, at night). And that's one thing that's really different about them vs the larger chickens, usually, our Chantecler's were pretty standoffish about their roost space, whereas the Silkies seem to almost "enjoy" the sleeping pile. They would though I think, roost on a very small roost given the chance, we have two hens who used to try sleeping on the step to the door of the coop (I had to put them inside every night), but the roosts would have to be really short for them.

[@justesaint-louis864]

@@HickorycroftFarm Yes, I notice last Summe with the one I had that it loved a branch I put in its cage at the ground level because they absolutely don't fly as you know.. I choose one adapted to the size of its feet. And you know what? It made the bird even cleaner. It was defecating always at the same place in the cage. Of course it was kind of small cage, but it could of been droping every where, but no. Il was piling all at the same place. And its feathers on its feet were cleaner too. Should really try it. Love to ear about it.

[@justesaint-louis864]

Interesting. Yep got one silkie last Summer just temporarily and yes they are 'pet' chicken ans soooo cute and cool.Looking forward for your videos about egg production and meat production. and how well it will go during winter. Thanks

[@HickorycroftFarm]

The "pet" quality of them is certainly not something anyone can dispute! We are looking forward to sharing about egg and meat production too. The spoiler is that everything is in smaller quantities obviously because of their size. But we are interested to look at it to from the perspective of input vs output (i.e., kind of cost) to also see how that pans out. Still, the meat qualities are, for me, at least the most fascinating part of this, and yes, all the black-skinned/fleshed chickens compare pretty equally here, but none are as easy to acquire as silkies.

[@kaitlinsfamilyfarmstead]

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