Chicken bald back

[debbiedoobs]

Hi all,

I've recently hatched 14 silkie chicks, 5 of which are boys. They are just coming up to 20 weeks and have already been cock a doodling for weeks.

I don't let them out of the coop/ house until after 9 and they go straight into their run. The problem is that the boys constantly doodle until I let them out to free range. They come out most days but only when I'm home. I'm bothered about when I need to go out and they're looked in? Is there a way I can try to break this behaviour or does anyone have any ideas to try minimise their noise?

[Purplemaniacs]

I have one silkie cockerel and he is quite loud at times but probably no louder than when some of the girls decide to announce that they have laid an egg loudly

 

I may be wrong but I think if you have a few boys some may compete with each other if there are girls around. I am sure someone with more experience of boys will be able to answer your question more fully.

 

Chrissie

[debbiedoobs]

Yeh Chrissie I agree, they aren't louder than the girls until they all go at the same time! I think they are competing with each other but why are they constantly doin it when they are locked in. Their run is massive and they have plenty of room to dig etc. They are very attached to me and follow me everywhere, so maybe that contributes. I'm just not sure how to brake the habit.

[Redwing]

if you have five cockerels they will be noisy! In a smaller space they are much more aware of each other and a crowing content will almost certainly start. This will only get worse and having five cockerels in a small garden flock is not sustainable sorry

[WitchHazel]

They will definitely be competing with each other. We move our hatch to the allotment when they are 8 or 9 weeks old, and the boys crow all the time. All day.

 

I'm assuming you aren't planning on keeping more than one cockerel long term?

 

We learnt the hard way that things can be fine for a long time, past 18 weeks, and then suddenly in the space of day or two, all hell breaks loose. We now start culling the boys at 18 weeks, sooner if there is trouble brewing.

 

We've also found that if we keep more than one several cockerel for much longer than this, they don't tend to put weight on anyway (not that I imagine you are planning to eat your silkies), they spend all their energy humping, or just bravading.

 

You mention that you have 14 chooks in total, tbh, 9 girls with 5 cockerels is going to mean a pretty horrible time for the girls. One cockerel on his own needs a minimum of 2-3 ladies. If you are running two cockerels (which can be done if the second one is content to be non-dominant and the dominant one does not feel threatened by him, and if there is enough space for them to make 2 flocks) then I would say you need probably 9 or10 ladies to try and avoid trouble.

 

If it's going to be a while before you can cull the boys, can you separate them off from the girls, so the girls don't get constantly humped?

 

Separating won't help with the crowing though. And it won't make any difference to their energy useage - they'll put their energy into pacing up and down and trying to work out how to reach the girls.

[debbiedoobs]

We have another 6 silkies that are between 1 and 3 yrs old, so 15 girls altogether. I was thinking of keeping 2 or 3 with the girls. If they become a problem them we will separate them straight away. They're not oining the girls that much at the minute so we're still Ok. They seem to have some days where they are really noisy and not on others. No we won't be eating the boys and I'm not into the culling side of keeping chickens, I get way too attached. We will be either selling them on or moving them to another part of the land we have them on where they can't see the girls.

[miller30]

Hi Im not asking this question to be harsh but will you be hatching anymore babies? as im afraid the culling issue comes with hatching as you cant keep every boy you hatch and you wont rehome or sell everyone so you have to do something with them leanne

[Egluntyne]

Leanne is right. You were lucky to only have 5 males out of 14 hatched this time. Another time you could be unlucky enough to have a full house. I would urge you to go on a despatching course, as you will struggle to keep finding homes for them.

[debbiedoobs]

Our plan is to breed from them. We found it so difficult to find any silkie breeders in our area so wanted to keep our own cockerels from this hatch so we can hatch our own eggs in the future. With silkies being hard to sex early I will find it hard to cull any boys as inevitably I will become attached. I love the look of silkie boys and love seeing how they protect the girls, they adore them. We have also thought about showing them in the future. Yes we have been lucky with only getting 5 boys out of the 14 and I'm sure you are all right with saying we can't keep all of them. We will separate and move them if there is any need to, we have plenty of room to keep them until we find them new homes or maybe to keep them. Maybe with time I will be able to dispatch but I'm too much of a softie right now.

[WitchHazel]

If you are planning on breeding, don't forget that sister-brother matings aren't a good way to go. You double the chance of breeding any inherited issues (which may not be evident in the parents) into the offspring.

 

You will also want to bring in new blood lines occasionally.

 

Good record keeping is essential.

 

I found when I started that I could remember who came from whom, but after a couple of years I was very grateful for my detailed records.

[debbiedoobs]

So everyone was right, it just got louder and louder!

It was starting to upset the neighbours and it was really annoying me. Thankfully the breeder we got the fertilised eggs from took 3 of the boys back. Deciding which boys to keep was a very hard decision but we had to do it. We've lost out on some beautiful boys, the breeder was well made up and said he was goin to enter one in the next show! Oh well! But I made myself feel so much better as i came away with a beautiful buff silkie hen and a blue partridge silkie hen! The 2 remaining cockerels are only crowing now and again, every couple of hours.

[Chickabee]

Well that's a happy ending . I must admit I did my first hatch this year. I was prepared to cull, but fortunately found a home for my boy. I have PTS one chicken myself. A very poorly girl. I researched how to do it properly and only felt bad when my son said I had a heart of steel. Thankfully lots of other people said it was the correct thing to do as it ended her pain and misery. I am thinking of hatching again next year and as I know I will not be as fortunate to get just one boy, I will be honing my skill. Perhaps practicing on my OH

[debbiedoobs]

Lol chickabee. I know I need to get into the culling thing but I'm a massive softy, think I'd cry my heart out. Wouldn't have a clue how to do it, I've read a little bout it though. Maybe by the next hatch i will have toughened up.

[gavclojak]

Lol chickabee. I know I need to get into the culling thing but I'm a massive softy, think I'd cry my heart out. Wouldn't have a clue how to do it, I've read a little bout it though. Maybe by the next hatch i will have toughened up.

 

If you plan on hatching then I guess culling is inevitable. Why don't you look in to a chicken culling course, it may give you the confidence you need to perform the dastardly deed.

[debbiedoobs]

Yeh gavclojak think i will look into that, thanks. Think because you can't definitely tell the sex of silkies I worry I will get too attached.

[gavclojak]

I applaud anyone who can, there is no way in gods green earth I could do it unless there was absolutely no alternative ie vets, or guy who runs a chook hotel around the corner from me who had dispatched his own several times.

[debbiedoobs]

I would also do everything I possibly could to keep them alive. We were so lucky that within only 1 day of having our neighbour tell us how the noise was bothering her and others, I had spoken to the breeder and they were gone. We were prepared for a trip to the vets if we couldn't find them a home. It turns out that who they went back to will benefit, But I don't care as long as they are well looked after. I adore animals and always have, Every time one dies it breaks my heart x