Need advice/suggestions on what to do with Silkies...

WindRunner · May 13, 2022

Hello, all. I was given two cockerels and a hen by a relative who found out we were looking for chickens. Our intention (which they weren't aware of) was to raise chickens for meat and eggs. We found out the chickens were Silkies and not particularly great as egg-layers since the eggs were small and not great for meat as they are small chickens.
After a lot of research, we decided to get 10 Barred Rock. We have received them yesterday and all is well.
When we heard the relatives had chickens, we hadn't built/bought a coop, so we rushed to get something to hold them until we built the main coop.

My question is what to do with the Silkies. Understand that we are new to raising chickens, so it's possible they would have a special fit into our flock of Rocks.

I would probably be able to rehome them, but I didn't want to be too rash. I had heard that Silkie hens were excellent brooders while Rocks could be not so great. If keeping them to sit on eggs to hatch would be worth the feed and management, then perhaps I should integrate them into my Rocks. However, if they wouldn't be a match, I would try to find a new home for them.

I will add that when we got the Silkies, they had been crammed together in a small cage for several days and is what prompted us to hurry and build a coop asap. I think they are about 2.5 months old. Since receiving them and completing the main coop, they have really filled out, look healthier, and seem very happy where they are.

I'm just not sure I want to keep them if they do not earn the expense of raising them. I have included some images: first of the quick coop we built, and the second a picture of the Silkies.

Any suggestions?

DobieLover · May 13, 2022

WindRunner said:
Silkie hens were excellent brooders while Rocks could be not so great.

Untrue. My PBR was the BEST mother hen I ever had.

I don't care for Silkies. They can be "bullied" in a flock of normal feathered LF birds, they don't produce many eggs, they constantly go broody and don't have normal feathers so keeping warm in cold climates can be an issue. I would re-home them.

WindRunner · May 13, 2022

DobieLover said:
Untrue. My PBR was the BEST mother hen I ever had.
View attachment 3105122

I don't care for Silkies. They can be "bullied" in a flock of normal feathered LF birds, they don't produce many eggs, they constantly go broody and don't have normal feathers so keeping warm in cold climates can be an issue. I would re-home them.

Thanks for the quick reply... In my research on Silkies, I got the impression those that raised them did so because of their appearance. Which wasn't a match for my goals. Also, glad to hear PBRs were good mothers.

Cloverr39 · May 13, 2022

Are you sure one silkie is a hen? Couse in the 2nd picture all 3 look like roosters to me. Do you have any better pictures of them close up?

Silkies go broody a lot. My silkies are pretty good layers. Eggs are small, but enough for me since I don't use eggs much. I have 3 silkie hens + another hen and on a normal day (no broodys) I get 2-3 eggs. If you want to keep chickens for eggs and meat I don't think silkies would be any good. I keep mine as pets and also breed them to improve silkies in my area. Mostly the breeding tho. I really enjoy the breed

U_Stormcrow · May 13, 2022

Silkies ARE reputed to be good broodies/mothers, and their relatively small size makes them feed efficient (sort of) when compared to a $100+ incubator investment. But if you don't plan to maintain a breeding flock, that's rather worthless. Even if you do, my personal expeirence with broody birds is that they don't reliably, successfully, hatch a significant percentage of eggs.

Obviously, my experience is both relatively unique and NOT the natural scheme of things. None of my birds has EVER successfully brooded a clutch, at the cost of literally hundreds of eggs they've laid themselves. Nature may have a low survival rate, but not THAT low. So my anecdote must be taken as a highly unlikely worst case type event.

In my view, colored by my experiences, Silkies belong in "vanity flocks", and nowhere else. I haven't a clue why their particular genetics initially evolved, but at this point, the continuation of the species seems to be, primarily, by people wishing to demonstrate (perhaps subconciously), that they have sufficient resources and means that they can afford to maintain unproductive chickens, solely because they are pleasing aesthetically.

Ridgerunner · May 13, 2022

Some breeds are known to go broody often. That does not mean that each hen of that breed will go broody at all, let alone when you want her to, but your odds of a hen going broody is much better than with some other breeds. Some breeds are known to hardly ever go broody. That does not mean that no hen of that breed will ever go broody because some will, but it can be pretty rare. Silkies are known to go broody often, Rocks are not. It is very much an individual hen thing. I really like my broody hens but the only way to control whether or not eggs hatch is to get an incubator. If you hatch eggs laid by a hen that does go broody and keep replacements the possibility of one of those going broody jump up a lot.

Most hens of any breed that go broody are great mothers. They know more about being good mothers by instinct than we will ever know. Occasionally you get an exception with any breed, but most are good. I find the more I interfere with my broody hens the more problems I cause.

I'm a proponent of knowing what your goals are and using those to make your decisions. Most silkies are bantam, I can't tell if those are or not. A bantam broody hen cannot cover as many eggs as a full sized hen. Two of yours are boys, they will never go broody. A silkie has very dark meat, some say black or purple. In some cultures that meat is considered a delicacy, some people are put off by the color. A silkie is supposed to not lay that well, like other bantams the eggs can be small and they can be infrequent, but some silkies lay 5 or 6 eggs a week. Like everything else that a breed is supposed to do, there are always exceptions.

With all these exceptions and unknowns I can't tell you what will happen with specific chickens. Until they mature you just won't know. But all you have to go by at your stage is breed tendencies. For your stated goals I'd suggest you rehome the silkies. I don't see it as a fit.

U_Stormcrow · May 13, 2022

Better than mine, at least.

WindRunner · May 13, 2022

Cloverr39 said:
Are you sure one silkie is a hen? Couse in the 2nd picture all 3 look like roosters to me. Do you have any better pictures of them close up?

Silkies go broody a lot. My silkies are pretty good layers. Eggs are small, but enough for me since I don't use eggs much. I have 3 silkie hens + another hen and on a normal day (no broodys) I get 2-3 eggs. If you want to keep chickens for eggs and meat I don't think silkies would be any good. I keep mine as pets and also breed them to improve silkies in my area. Mostly the breeding tho. I really enjoy the breed

I have included an image of each. I've had them for a week or so. Two of them will crow like crazy, the other one I have never heard more than a cackle from. I assumed it was a hen. The first image of the "red" one was attacked by the other two before we got them. Since we have increased their area a lot, they don't bully it, anymore and the damaged part on the back of its head is healing quickly. The white one with the larger comb also crows. The last image with the flatter comb, I think, is a hen. They are all beautiful birds.

WindRunner · May 13, 2022

Ridgerunner said:
Some breeds are known to go broody often. That does not mean that each hen of that breed will go broody at all, let alone when you want her to, but your odds of a hen going broody is much better than with some other breeds. Some breeds are known to hardly ever go broody. That does not mean that no hen of that breed will ever go broody because some will, but it can be pretty rare. Silkies are known to go broody often, Rocks are not. It is very much an individual hen thing. I really like my broody hens but the only way to control whether or not eggs hatch is to get an incubator. If you hatch eggs laid by a hen that does go broody and keep replacements the possibility of one of those going broody jump up a lot.

Most hens of any breed that go broody are great mothers. They know more about being good mothers by instinct than we will ever know. Occasionally you get an exception with any breed, but most are good. I find the more I interfere with my broody hens the more problems I cause.

I'm a proponent of knowing what your goals are and using those to make your decisions. Most silkies are bantam, I can't tell if those are or not. A bantam broody hen cannot cover as many eggs as a full sized hen. Two of yours are boys, they will never go broody. A silkie has very dark meat, some say black or purple. In some cultures that meat is considered a delicacy, some people are put off by the color. A silkie is supposed to not lay that well, like other bantams the eggs can be small and they can be infrequent, but some silkies lay 5 or 6 eggs a week. Like everything else that a breed is supposed to do, there are always exceptions.

With all these exceptions and unknowns I can't tell you what will happen with specific chickens. Until they mature you just won't know. But all you have to go by at your stage is breed tendencies. For your stated goals I'd suggest you rehome the silkies. I don't see it as a fit.

Thanks for the very informative post.

MysteryChicken · May 13, 2022

WindRunner said:
Hello, all. I was given two cockerels and a hen by a relative who found out we were looking for chickens. Our intention (which they weren't aware of) was to raise chickens for meat and eggs. We found out the chickens were Silkies and not particularly great as egg-layers since the eggs were small and not great for meat as they are small chickens.
After a lot of research, we decided to get 10 Barred Rock. We have received them yesterday and all is well.
When we heard the relatives had chickens, we hadn't built/bought a coop, so we rushed to get something to hold them until we built the main coop.

My question is what to do with the Silkies. Understand that we are new to raising chickens, so it's possible they would have a special fit into our flock of Rocks.

I would probably be able to rehome them, but I didn't want to be too rash. I had heard that Silkie hens were excellent brooders while Rocks could be not so great. If keeping them to sit on eggs to hatch would be worth the feed and management, then perhaps I should integrate them into my Rocks. However, if they wouldn't be a match, I would try to find a new home for them.

I will add that when we got the Silkies, they had been crammed together in a small cage for several days and is what prompted us to hurry and build a coop asap. I think they are about 2.5 months old. Since receiving them and completing the main coop, they have really filled out, look healthier, and seem very happy where they are.

I'm just not sure I want to keep them if they do not earn the expense of raising them. I have included some images: first of the quick coop we built, and the second a picture of the Silkies.

Any suggestions?

Silkies are actually great egg producers, & table birds. I've eaten many. I raise, & breed silkies.

Their egg size varies depending on the type of Silkie you have. Bantams typically are layers of small, & Peewee eggs.

Largefowl lay medium to large, & extra large eggs.

They fill out nice in the breast too. I have a Silkie rooster on the butcher list this year, so I can take a picture of that then.

Silkies are also excellent mothers, I have 3 sitting right now.

Need advice/suggestions on what to do with Silkies...

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