4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Silkiemum]

We have been very unlucky with our silikes: first of all we found that Monica turned out to be a Man-ica, and now Erica - "her" replacement - has turned out to be an Eric. SHe -or rather he - will be returning to the breeder later this week!

 

We now want to obtain one -or possibly two- new hens to join Rachel and Phoebe. They are Silkie Bantams. They live in an Eglu, though they have a lovely large enclosure to live in (I only mention this, in case the amount of space in the run makes a difference....).

 

Can anyone offer advice about what breed to go for, for the replacements. I had understood that we really need to go for bantams, to avoid bullying.

 

Any thoughts on the size of hen we could consider would be great (is there a "normal" size hen we could consider for example?). If we need to stick to bantams or smaller hens, any ideas on good layers/temperament would be welcome.

 

My other concern at the moment is that Rachel - the only one of our hens to start laying (well, clearly we understand why Monica and Erica haven't!!!!) - stopped laying over a week ago. Could this be that the presence of a maturing cockeral has unsettled her, cold weather etc? She is very well and apparently thriving otherwise.

 

 

Thanks! Silkiemum

[Redwing]

Hi Silkiemum

 

Pure breeds often stop laying over winter sadly but will start again in the spring

 

Also it takes them a while to get going anyway if they are new to it, I have a hen that laid for the first time over a week ago and hasnt laid since

 

If your silkies are very diddy then do get bantams - Pekins are very sweet and lots of fun and the frizzle ones are brill, Wyandotte bantams are very attractive and sweet too. Polands are nice but they need their hairdo kept dry

 

If your silkies are the ones that are an inbetween size (not bantam or large fowl sized) then the light layers are a nice addition, Cream Legbars will give you blue eggs, Appenzellers, Leghorns and Gold legbars will give you white eggs. the liight breeds are not too big and heavy and are not as bolshy as hybrids but again will stop laying over winter

[batcatz]

Hi, I had the same problem with a silkie who turned into a Dave.

 

My lavender aracauna is the same size as my silkie. I put them together for the first time yesterday and they were fine. Maybe because they are both bottom of the pecking order.

 

My silkie lives with a large hybrid speckledy hen. They were both new when I got them though.

[Silkiemum]

Many thanks for the advice. Have just taken a look at pictures of Wyandottes and Frizzles: they look lovely and about the right size for my remaining girls. Any further ideas welcome.

 

Silkiemum

Rachel, Phoebe, Eric(a)

 

and Jess the black and white cat