Now we are back in town the plymouth rocks are too large, so we have barnevelders for eggs. They aren't pets though, the kids aren't allowed to pat them, so we decided to also get a smaller breed for the kids to cuddle. A friend gave us a few bantams to see if we could make it work. The kids love them, so we decided to get a few more for the kids to have as pets.
Silkies are perfect cuddle chickens, and I love silkies, so we decided to get silkies again. Depending on how they were raised they can be adorable bundles of fluff who love cuddles, or they can be moody things that sulk over there and wish you weren't anywhere near them. As they were intended to be cuddle chickens we decided to hatch eggs and raise them with the kids rather than buy point of lay.
We bought some silkie chicken eggs and did a hatch. We got a handful of different colours which was fun. One thing I love about silkie chickens is how cute they are when they are tiny!
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| Silkie chicken hatchlings |
The silkie chickens grew fast, and before we knew it they were living outside in a cage and no longer under heat. We put a ramp into their house as they took a while to learn how to use the ladder. They aren't the brightest breed of chicken, but that doesn't make them any less lovable.
It wasn't long until the silkies were too big for their cage and were allowed to free range during the day. We also have a silkie rooster and a few other bantam chickens, so we had them in different houses at night but mingling in the yard together during the day. At the start they kept completely separate from each other.
We already had a lovely blue silkie rooster, so decided to separate the boys from the girls before there was any trouble. I love the colours of some of the boys, too bad they weren't girls as I would have kept the splash silkie, the buff one, and the red one. The splash rooster was the friendliest and most loving I have ever seen.
The girls kept free ranging with the rooster and the other bantams, they became one flock pretty easily as they had plenty of space to get away from one another.
Unlike many other breeds, silkies are not too hard on the lawn. If the grass got too long they stay away from it! Silkies aren't the best at reducing insect numbers under the fruit trees, but they are better than nothing.
The boys lived in a different cage out the front yard, it took a few months before they explored far enough to possibly mingle, then we put up a little fence. They don't fly, and aren't smart enough to work out how to get through the large gaps in the fence, so our problem was solved.
Even though silkie chickens are not very effective foragers compared to many other chicken breeds, having the boys in the front yard meant slightly less mowing for me. We have raised vegetable gardens, the boys foraged between them and helped lower the number of insects. This is good and bad, as they do not discriminate between pests and beneficial arthropods.
I really loved the splash rooster and the red one, they were friendly and every day when I got home from work they would run over for a cuddle. Being extra roosters they were eventually heading to the freezer, and I was worried that I was far too attached to them. I started to try and think of a way I could keep them as they were so docile and lovely but really couldn't think of anything.
I am happy to say that someone bought those two and is planning to breed from them! What a great outcome. I hope they love their new homes.
If you would like a silkie rooster and can pick him up let me know using the contact form on the right hand side of this page. I still have some white, grey, buff, and blue silkie roosters. Any that don't get homes soon will end up as my dinner.
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