Silkies For Sale
Silkie Starter Kit – What You Need Before the Chicks Arrive
As with any pet, it is important to plan ahead and purchase any equipment and supplies you will need before you bring home the actual animal. This is especially important with baby chicks.
If you plan on purchasing newborns or one week olds, you will first of all need to have a heat lamp and a heat lamp bulb to go with it. The heat lamp should be up and running before you bring the chicks home so that they can immediately warm to the right temperature after their car ride. When setting the heat lamp up, do not rely on just the clamp that comes with the fixture. Use mechanics wire to hang and secure the lamp over the brooder. The lamp should be able to be raised or lowered as needed to keep the chicks at the right temperature. This temp should be around 85-90 degrees when they are very young. Use their behavior as a guide. If they are too cold they will huddle under the lamp and cry. If they are too warm they will try and get as far away from the bulb as possible. You want them comfortably moving to all parts of the brooder.
I bulb should be a red infrared variety. I think those are the best so that the chicks can experience a night time cycle. It can also keep down the pecking of each other that can occur when there is the stress of constant daylight.
Any type of a tub can become a brooder. You will need to line the brooder with animal bedding to absorb moisture. I use pine shavings. I change the bedding about once a week and throw the used bedding on my garden to act as a mulch and fertilizer.
Your silkie chicks will also need a feeder and a waterer. Quart size is best when they are small chicks. Later you can get the gallon sized. I like to add a couple of things to the water for the silkie chicks. Vitamins with electrolytes can be added to give them a good start. I also add a splash of apple cider vinegar to help with digestion and general health.
Young chicks should be given chick starter until they are at least 10 weeks old. They can eat it longer than that, but you may want to switch to a grower feed. Chick starter is high in protein. Use medicated until they are around six weeks old and then switch to regular chick starter. Medicated can help their developing immune system to fight coccidiosis.
On my website near the top, there is a page called Silkie Supplies. There are some suggested products there to guide you in deciding what you need to start in silkie chickens. Good luck with your new pets!
For tips and tricks for raising outstanding silkies check out our Chicken Learning Center at VJPPoultry.com . VJP Poultry is an NPIP and state inspected hatchery located 30 miles north of St. Paul. We hatch out silkies all year long so we always have stock available. Like us on Facebook to get weekly updates on what we currently have for sale.
Victoria J. Peterson
Silkies For Sale – 8/30/17
Silkies For Sale – 8/21/17
How We Quarantine Silkies at Rooster Camp and Rooster Hilton
At VJP Poutry we are never idle. We are always trying to improve how we do things for the good of our flock. Some of you have seen our Rooster Camp if you have ever returned a rooster. Now we have a second rooster containment area we call the Rooster Hilton.
It is important to have a separate quarantine area for new birds. Failure to quarantine new flock members can result in death to an entire flock.
To Quarantine means to completely isolate newly acquired birds from an existing flock for a significant period of time. During this time they are watched for signs of diseases and parasites.
A chicken may look healthy while hiding illness. Quarantine lets you watch without exposing the rest of the flock to health dangers. Moving chickens from one home to another is a major stressor , which can cause latent diseases to become active. This leads to a health threat for the rest of your flock. The bare minimum quarantine time is two weeks but 30 – 60 days is preferred by professionals
Once the quarantine period is over and they still appear healthy, they can be integrated gradually into an existing flock. Use Quarantine whenever you need to have a separate space for someone.
Our Rooster Camp almost looks like a campground for chickens. There is green grass to walk in and tarps to keep the rain off the birds. There is a large, homemade, wooden dog house into which the roosters go at night. The dog house is very secure and can keep predators at bay. Its a nice, clean place for roosters to stay and relax.
The new project is the Rooster Hilton. We needed a second place that was better at muffling the sounds of crowing. It is located back behind the rooster fence, next to the coops. The fencing was purchased from Amazon. We placed pea rock on the ground and built a wooden base on which to place the dog house. We had to create and install our own secure door as the dog house only came with plastic flaps.
Rooster Camp and Rooster Hilton will be used to house returned rooster and possibly an extra area if we need to separate chickens from the rest of the flock. I always feel like I never have enough room to do all the projects I’d like to do. This won’t be the last addition we make a VJP Poultry.
For tips and tricks for raising outstanding silkies check out our Chicken Learning Center at VJPPoultry.com . VJP Poultry is an NPIP and state inspected hatchery located 30 miles north of St. Paul. We hatch out silkies all year long so we always have stock available. Like us on Facebook to get weekly updates on what we currently have for sale.
Victoria J. Peterson
VJP Poultry 