How Often Do Silkies Lay Eggs? A silkie chicken can lay about 120 eggs per year, about 2-4 eggs per week.
How many eggs a week do Silkies lay?
If you want a chicken that lays lots of eggs, the Silkie is not your bird. They are considered poor layers averaging 2-3 small eggs each week – around 100-120 eggs per year.
At what age are Silkies fully grown?
At what age are Silkies full grown? Silkie hens or pullets generally mature around 8-10 months and cockerels about 10-12 months. They hit their full size around 4 to 5 months and get their first real adult set of feathers about this time as well.
At what age do Silkie roosters start crowing?
Silkie roosters usually begin crowing at about 4-5 months of age. Just because all Silkie roosters can crow doesn’t mean they all start to crow at the same age. Some are known to start crowing as young as two months, while others may not crow until well after a year old.
What age do silkies stop laying eggs?
Silkies will generally consistently lay their eggs for two years or so, then gradually their production will start to decline. A hen won’t simply one day stop laying eggs altogether.
Can you mix Silkies with other chickens?
Silkies get along nicely with other chickens and animals because of their calm and friendly temperament. Because of their small size and unique looks, many chickens may pick on them. Before you try “mixing” different breeds together, you need to know what to watch for and how to protect your Silkies.
What do you do with a broody silkie?
If you have a single silkie hen that is being broody, you can leave her in the coop but simply remove her from the nest. Bear in mind that you’ll need to do this consistently throughout the day because every time you remove her, she’ll eventually end up going back to her nest and/or eggs.
Do silkies like to cuddle?
Silkies don’t mind getting up close and personal with their human friends, in fact, they quite like being cuddled, kissed and groomed, making them eggcellent pets for young children.
What does a 4 week old silkie look like?
Silkie Chicken update – 4 weeks old
How do you tell if a silkie is a boy or girl?
It is quite difficult to tell the difference between male and female silkie chicks because they take longer to mature than most other chicken breeds; however, once they are mature, males (roosters) and females (hens) do have some distinct differences including: roosters tend to be larger than hens, the comb will be …
At what age can you tell the gender of a silkie chicken?
In my personal experience, i can usually tell between 8-11 weeks. With sexing Silkies, the case is not so much “practice makes perfect” as practice tends to lend a better successful percentage. All the methods I describe below are only to help give an indication of the sex of your bird(s).
What is a blue silkie?
The Blue Silkie Bantam is a gorgeous variety of the Silkie Bantam breed, miniature chickens that originated in China and Japan. Silkie Bantam chickens are an Asiatic, feather-footed breed covered with an extraordinary abundance of soft, fluffy, hair-like feathers.
Can 2 silkie roosters live together?
That said, most backyard chicken breeds do fine in flocks with multiple roosters. Favorite breeds for roosters (and multiple roosters) include Salmon Faverolles, Plymouth Rocks, Marans, Orpingtons, Australorps, Silkies and Brahmas.
How do you stop a silkie rooster from crowing?
Training our rooster NOT to crow
Do male silkies make a lot of noise?
The male Silkies are the loudest compared to the hens. Crowing is an essential part of every rooster’s life cycle, so you might as well be prepared for it.
Why are my Silkie chickens not laying?
Silkies in particular can overheat in a flash. A chicken that has suffered trauma, like an accident or a run in with a dig or predator , may not lay for weeks afterwards. Predators around the coop disturbing the chickens at night can affect egg laying.
How do you get Silkie chickens to lay eggs?
Ensure your chickens can see light for around 12 to 14 hours per day. If they cannot, provide lights inside the coop, and set these on a timer. Some owners find that providing a silkie with surrogate eggs to look after will prompt her into laying.
Can you eat Silkie chicken?
The Silkie is not everyone’s idea of a dual purpose bird but they are a delicacy in the Orient. The skin and meat is black which is why you rarely see them for sale as food, it freaks some people out. They can be eaten and the meat tastes a little stronger than normal chicken.
Do Silkie chickens like to be held?
Silkies are gentle, kind birds who love company and adore being held and fussed over.
Do Silkies need special care?
Do Silkies need special care? Yes a little special care is required for Silkie chickens. The feathers wet easily and the birds can become chilled if this happens. The extra toes and feather feet can sometimes be an issue.
Why is Silkie chicken meat black?
Silkies owe their unusual black color to fibromelanosis, a rare genetic mutation of hyperpigmentation believed to have first arisen in China. Their Mandarin name, wu gu ji, means “dark-boned chicken;” the name silkie comes from their fluffy plumage which, lacking barbicels, looks and feels like fur.
How many times a year does a Silkie go broody?
Silkies are not the breed to keep if you do not want to have to deal with broody hens, most go broody at least once a year. When a hen goes broody, she stops laying and sits. She will usually sit for at least 3 weeks and may not lay for another six weeks after that.
How do you stop silkies from being broody?
Create a separate environment for her using a small portable coop or crate. Removing her from the nesting boxes and eggs could help get her out of the broody mindset. Putting her in a cage with a wire bottom, open to the air, can help cool her underside and disengage her from the broody feeling.
How long does a silkie chicken stay broody?
Three days is usually enough time but it does depend on the hen. You will know when your hen is no longer broody when she no longer fluffs her feathers out and she won’t hurry to the nest.
How do you cut silkie eyes?
Trimming around a silkies eyes to improve sight!
How smart are silkie chickens?
Though they are small in stature, silkies are big on personality! My silkies especially are total characters and are actually pretty smart. A silkie roo was the first chicken I trained to walk on a leash and I often took him to events to teach people about raising backyard chickens for eggs.
How do you get silkies to like you?
Like any other animal, the quickest and easiest way to tame silkies is to, well, bribe them with treats! It can be in the form of mealworms, oats, raisins, and sunflower seeds. My flock loves eating Grubblies and cracked corn, so you might want to give those a try.
What do baby silkie chickens eat?
In general, chickens like wholegrains – oats, wheat, barley, maize and so on are all excellent for them. These are good to give as a ‘scratch feed’ (one which is scattered on the ground so that the silkies have to ‘scratch’ for it). Be a bit wary, though – feeding too many grains could make your chickens fat!
What is a splash silkie?
What is a splash Silkie? Splash Silkie chickens have pale blue plumage with irregular patches of black or dark blue colour. Splash is the most recent addition to the APA Standard, added in 2000.
Are silkie roosters mean?
Male silkies are by far less aggressive than most other types of roosters. They would still protect their territory and act defensively if they feel that someone or something will attack their hens and eggs. However, these roosters are gentler than roosters of other breeds.
Do female silkie chickens crow?
Silkie Roosters
Silkies as young as 2 months old have been known to crow, while others have not begun crowing until nearly a year old. Unlike other breeds of chicken, Silkies are less likely to crow if you have other mature roosters on-site.
What does a male silkie look like?
Silkie roosters are larger than hens. They have larger and rounder wattles, and their combs are larger and shaped differently: These fleshy growths on adult male Silkies’ heads feature extensions that are like streamers; they appear swept back rather than rounded.
What is a bantam Silkie?
Of all the ornamental chicken breeds, the Silkie Bantam is one of the most popular and beloved, and certainly one of the most entertaining to watch. Can’t you tell why? They’re the lap kitty of the chicken world, complete with hair-like plumage and an incredibly sweet temperament.
What is a lavender Silkie?
Lavender or self blue chicken feathers are a uniform light grey across all of the birds plumage. The lavender itself is actually black but with a reduced amount of pigment showing it looks a soft and even shade of blue.
What is a paint Silkie?
What is a paint Silkie? Paint Silkies are a black chicken that carries one dominant white gene. Paint feathering looks a little like a dalmatian dog with black patches in white feathers. A few spots of black will “leak through” the white as the dominant white gene does not always cover up all of the black.
How many hens do you need for one rooster?
The generally accepted ratio is 10 hens for every 1 rooster. However the exact ratio for your flock will depend on the particular breeds you have and the number of hens you have. Breeds that are lightweight and active (such as Leghorns and Fayoumis) can have a higher hen to rooster ratio (12:1).
How many hens can you get from a silkie rooster?
One rooster per 3-4 hens is a good ratio. Often silkie roosters get along with each other fairly well, so it’s not too much of a hardship, and their slightly lower fertility rates are offset with an extra rooster or two.
Will 2 silkie roosters fight?
Are Silkie roosters as aggressive as other breeds? Usually not, but you can always get an exception. They may still fight with other roosters though even though they are good with people. You can breed aggressiveness out of them to some extent over time.
Which breed of rooster is the quietest?
The Quietest Rooster
Specifically, the Lavender Orpington is an extremely quiet breed of chicken. While not yet recognized by the APA, this chicken is quickly becoming a family favorite. The roosters are no different than the hens with their laid-back take on life.
Are Crow collars cruel?
The summary of the last two heads is, the No Crow Collars brings down the sound of a rooster’s crow by restricting the amount of air rooster inhale and expel. The Now Crow Collars do not hurt but they can be irritating for the roosters and disturbing for you to see.
What does it mean when a rooster crows at night?
Crowing can help him alert his hens to any perceived threat the rooster has noticed. A lot of nocturnal predators will prey on chickens in the night and the rooster’s crow may indicate he’s spotted a predator and is sounding the alarm. The rooster’s crow gives the hens the warning to seek shelter from the danger.
Why do Silkies chirp so much?
Silkie hens, on the other hand, are most noisy for one main reason: she’s got to tell everyone about the egg she is about to lay or just laid – also known as the egg song. Other hens will often join in the clatter when one hen starts off which will result in a noisy flock for a few minutes.
How old do chickens start crowing?
At 4-5 months old, any roosters in the bunch will begin to crow and it is at this crucial time that you may just discover that your favorite hen is really a “he”. Sometimes it is easy to tell that a hen is really a rooster before any crowing starts.
Are Silkies calm?
The temperament of Silkies is what makes this breed a great pet. They are gentle and docile. They do not wander far from their food dish and are easy to find at the end of the day. They are great for families with children because they are easy to catch and easy to hold.