# Silkie Bantam Hens.



## Patmufc (Dec 10, 2008)

Hi all.
Im pretty new to the bird keeping world but feel I don't think I could entered the hobby in a cooler fashion, absoloutley besotted with my crew:


























































































Cheers.
Pat.


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

I have recently started keeping chooks as well, mine are inside at the moment because they are only young, I have a white sussex and lavender pekin, I am going to get a few more soon, I was actually considering a white silkie, are the hens noisey?


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## Patmufc (Dec 10, 2008)

SiUK said:


> I have recently started keeping chooks as well, mine are inside at the moment because they are only young, I have a white sussex and lavender pekin, I am going to get a few more soon, I was actually considering a white silkie, are the hens noisey?


Never hear a peep out of them mate, they don't even cluck they just squeak haha. In all seriousness They make their own way into the pen at night and i lock them in because I have alot of foxes around my way, I open the hutch to let them into the pen in morning around half 7 and I don't hear anything out of until they come out for some food and a drink when they are a bit excited  Would definatley recommend them : victory:

Another good thing about these is they have been on that patch of grass for about 2 weeks and as you can see they hardly damage the lawn at all, that is with 7 hens as well! A great advantage if you want your lawn looking fresh as my dad does.


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## Roseanna (Apr 26, 2010)

o my gosh! those are the coolest chickens (they are chickens right? lol) i have EVER seen!! soooo cute ! i really want some pet chickens hehe.
Nice one :no1:


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## Patmufc (Dec 10, 2008)

Roseanna said:


> o my gosh! those are the coolest chickens (they are chickens right? lol) i have EVER seen!! soooo cute ! i really want some pet chickens hehe.
> Nice one :no1:


Haha thanks alot! And yes they are chickens : victory: The two white ones are minatures so wont get much bigger than that and the gold ones dont grow very big so its all good, cheap as chips as well


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## Roseanna (Apr 26, 2010)

Patmufc said:


> Haha thanks alot! And yes they are chickens : victory: The two white ones are minatures so wont get much bigger than that and the gold ones dont grow very big so its all good, cheap as chips as well


 i wish i could get some!


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

Daft looking things aren't they!

I love mine and want to get a few more, unlike Patmufc I would have to say Silkie hens _are_ noisy, mine is much noisier than any of my other birds, not as noisy as a cock but enough that you notice, and might think twice if you have close neighbours of the busybody variety.


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## Patmufc (Dec 10, 2008)

Graham said:


> Daft looking things aren't they!
> 
> I love mine and want to get a few more, unlike Patmufc I would have to say Silkie hens _are_ noisy, mine is much noisier than any of my other birds, not as noisy as a cock but enough that you notice, and might think twice if you have close neighbours of the busybody variety.


Ah really? Maybe it is something they maybe develop into as they grow but like I said at the moment I never hear a peep out of them, hopefully it might just depend on the individual bird


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

Could be that I've just got a noisy one, but others agreed with me when we discussed it on here a week or two back, so clearly mine is not the only one!


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i have a tio of golds and they`re awful noisy.

maybe these are youngsters and they`ll find their voices once they age and start laying........hopefully they`ll stay hens, silkies like to change teams at a late age....


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## LiamRatSnake (Jul 3, 2007)

pigglywiggly said:


> i have a tio of golds and they`re awful noisy.
> 
> maybe these are youngsters and they`ll find their voices once they age and start laying........hopefully they`ll stay hens, silkies like to change teams at a late age....


Was just going to say that, they're very good at being hens up until the point they start to crow - I had one I would have bet my life was a hen until he started crowing at 8 months! At least one looks suspect to me but you might be lucky. As for noise mine, including the bantams, are a little more vocal than average but not much. My white cockerel however is the noisiest of my lot including some birds twice his size.


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i thought one of the whites looked suspect too.


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## LiamRatSnake (Jul 3, 2007)

pigglywiggly said:


> i thought one of the whites looked suspect too.


I don't seem to be very good at sexing young birds but I'm wondering about the white one in pic 1.


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## spottymint (Oct 3, 2010)

Silkies are meant to be really hard to sex, was told that many years ago by a breeder.

The gold one in pic 1 looks maybe a cock & the white at the back looks very upright, but couldn't say one way or the other.


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

the white one at the back in pic one looks suspect to me, head pom pom is a bit lacking at the front?

those golds are bearded ones too arnt they? :mf_dribble: 
can see which one you think might not be a girl, has slightly too much comb?

thats silkies for you, even the show breeders struggle!


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## LiamRatSnake (Jul 3, 2007)

pigglywiggly said:


> the white one at the back in pic one looks suspect to me, head pom pom is a bit lacking at the front?
> 
> those golds are bearded ones too arnt they? :mf_dribble:
> can see which one you think might not be a girl, has slightly too much comb?
> ...


Aye, I think the biggest clue is when the crest starts further back, but it doesn't always work. They're a pain in the bum.
To Spottymint I agree, it's the stance more than anything with the white bird.
Anyway all my resident silkie cock has a lovely crow and he's so nice to the ladies :flrt:


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