2009 Omlet cube and run for sale

[mollyripkim]

Hi Everyone, would really appreciate some advice, will try not to ramble. I have had Holly and Ivy (white silkies) since 22nd January and all introductions went well. Holly is definitely part of the flock, comes running for treats, takes herself to bed up the ladder and goes back into the run when I throw corn in to put them to bed. Unfortunately Ivy does none of these things, no-one is bullying or even pecking her and I have been watching carefully. They went back to the breeder recently for a two week holiday, she gave her a complete health check and concluded she is just a bit dim. So my issues are:

1. Her crop is never as full as the others although she eats and drinks, I separated her today with a load of treats which she gobbled up.

2. I weighed her today and she is 949 grams, only 29 grams less than Holly and certainly heavier than Henrietta who is little.

3. At night she won't go up the ladder, sits on the bottom rung until I crawl in and encourage her up the ladder. When I check later she is snuggled up with the others.

4. When I call for treats it takes her ages to decide to come over by which time they are all gone. If I throw her some the others charge over and she backs off even though they don't peck her.

5. The others love to get in the raised borders to dust bathe but she just walks up and down as if she is trying to work it out.

6. When I want to put them in the run I have to go and pick her up, she makes little attempt to run away but doesn't crouch yet.

 

It's hard to put my finger on it but she doesn't respond like the others.

 

So I am wondering does any of this mean there is something wrong with her or are some chickens literally not very bright. She does have a huge topknot so I wondered if she doesn't see as well as the other although picks up corn etc or deaf?

I an only in my second year of chickens and still learning and not sure about this one?

Thanks so much for any replies.

[Groovychook]

Hi, it might just be that she's a little dim

 

When I first got my silkies, I had to make some extra steps at the base of the cube ladder out of a few bricks. They couldn't get the hang of going up the ladder but that certainly helped.

 

Neither of my silkies are very bright but one is more skittish and the other is much less aware of her surroundings. The less bright of the pair, Rita, has a much bigger hairdo and I've come to the conclusion that her behaviour has a lot to do with that. I think it hampers her visibility and causes her to have less confidence.

 

I might be completely wrong, but it might explain why your girl behaves differently to the other... it's a hair thing!

[mollyripkim]

Thanks Groovychook, I think you might be right and it's to do with the hairdo and she is a bit dim. They do have a branch as a stepping stone up the ladder and the other silkies manage fine.

I think your expression that she is less aware of her surroundings sums her up, it worried me that she doesnt try to run away when I want to pick her up but maybe she can't see me!

Thank you for the reassurance though, you know what it's like, the more you think about it the worse it gets.

[Groovychook]

No problem

I don't envy you having to crawl in to help her to bed though. My Araucana used to need assistance to go to bed when she was little. I think it took a month or so before she got the hang of it!

[clucker1]

We have a chicken like yours too (although, phew she does go to bed up the stairs ok.) Everything else you describe, she does though. She is called Primrose, but has recently been renamed Dimrose! She is a bluebelle hybrid. I did think she was deaf, but my hearing tests on her recently have since quashed this theory. Perhaps, we can't all be clever girls...eh?!

[Plum]

If she's no different to when you got her I wouldn't worry.

 

Budgie is such a numbskull she just sits in the garden looking pretty, glad to know she's not the only dim chicken.

 

I have to round her up when the others all come running and sometimes hold a mealworm under her nose and once she finally clicks what it is she really chomps them Like your silkie she's small for her breed but she's healthy and always been this way, just forgot something when she was made.

 

I use some picket fence border edging to make her a ramp to go up to cube and come down otherwise she'd just sit there watching her feathers growing.

 

I'd just keep an eye out for bullying and you could trim a few head feathers if you think it's that. I just enjoy Budgie for herself, a bit like my numbskull persian compared with the siameses.

[mollyripkim]

Thank you everyone, you have put my mind at rest and yes she is no different from when I first got her, she does exactly what Budgie does as you have to hold a treat right in her line of sight before she realises. I did wonder like Primrose if she was deaf but she responds to a loud noise. I just hope she eventually will put herself to bed.

So I will just enjoy her as she is, actually she is a sweet little thing and very pretty.

[LolaLayla]

I have 2 hybrids (Lola and Layla) and recently got 2 Silkies. I thought Lola and Layla were a bit lacking in the brains department but they are Einsteins in comparison to the 2 new girls When I first got them they sat in the run at dusk and they had to be pointed in the right direction. However they do go to bed themselves now and as they are in an eglu there is not so much 'thinking' required to find their bed. Hopefully your girl will eventually learn where she should go at night