Tag: Weekly silkie blog
How To Give Your Silkie a Bath
There will come a time when you may need to give your little silkie a bath. Maybe she has been playing in the mud or maybe you have plans for showing her. Either way, giving a silkie a bath is a very easy thing to do.
First of all, gather all of the supplies you will need ahead of time so you won’t be searching for them while your bird is in the water. You will need some kind of shampoo and some white vinegar to use as part of a rinse. You will need towels and a bucket for the final rinse. A blow dryer should be handy too.
You have a couple of choices as to where to give the bath. A sink works well especially if you have a water sprayer attached. A bath tub can work too. I have used several buckets in a bath tub and then just moved the bird from bucket to bucket.
Start by soaking the bird in warm water. The water should not be too cool or too warm. Keep the water shallow enough so that her head won’t go under the water line. Water should never go into the chicken’s nostrils. Always keep one hand on your bird.
When the bird is soaked with water, you can start shampooing. Any shampoo will work. I like a dog flea and tick shampoo to start with. You might use a little blue Dawn dish soap on heavily soiled areas if your silkie is white. A bluing shampoo works well with white birds. Make sure that the bird is thoroughly wet before shampooing or the feathers will end up purple from the bluing.
Next you will want to rinse all of the shampoo off with the sprayer or by rinsing in a separate bucket. Lastly, dip her in clean water that has had some vinegar splashed into it. The vinegar cuts the soap film on the feathers.
You will want to quickly wrap your dripping bird up into a towel. Try to absorb as much water as possible with the towel. It is easy for the bird to become chilled at this point so keep her wrapped up and warm.
The blow dryer should be plugged in and ready to go. Make sure that you use it on the “low” setting. Too high of heat will burn your silkie. I start blow drying the crest while she is still wrapped up in the towel. Slowly unwrap the towel and continue blow drying the whole body.
Blow drying takes a long time. You can take short breaks and comb out the feathers with a slicker brush. It is important that she is dry when you return her to her group. If the weather is cool, she can become chilled. Never bath a silkie right before they go to sleep. They will still be damp under their wings which can lead to them being chilled.
They may not like it the first time you bath them, but the more you wash them, the more they get used to it. After a few times they will begin to behave and enjoy it. Do silkies need to be bathed? No, they do a nice job of grooming themselves. You will, however , be amazed at how fluffy and soft they become after their bath. Good luck with bathing your silkies!
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
Minnesota Fall Poultry Shows are all about Silkies
Attending a Poultry Show is an educational experience. Whether you are showing yourself or are there just to see what everyone else brought, you will come away with a better understanding of what silkies and other breeds are all about.
I’d like to get people thinking about the two Minnesota Poultry shows that happen in the fall. These are the shows where most people showing silkies will be at in this area. The first is the Minnesota State Poultry Association Show, otherwise known as the Hutchinson Show. The show is located on the McLeod County Fairgrounds. Here is a link to their site http://www.mnstatepoultry.com/
The second fall show is the Brown County Pigeon and Poultry Association’s New Ulm Fall Classic. Information can be found here.
Entry forms can be found on both sites. Silkies are classified as Bantams. If you bought them from VJP Poultry, they are bearded. The breed is silkie but the variety is the standard color – white, black, blue, buff, splash, grey , partridge and self blue (lavendar). These are all things you will need to know when filling out your entry form.
All birds entered must originate from a hatchery or breeding flock that is classified U.S. Pollorum – Typhoid clean under the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) or be negative to a Pollorum – Typhoid test within 90 days prior to the opening date of exhibition. You will need a form showing your test results when you send in your entry form for the show.
If you bought chicks from VJP Poultry you can get a Statement Of Origin form. This form shows that we are NPIP and we are Pollorum – Typhoid clean. You will not need to have your chicks tested unless they are older than 12 months of age as long as you have this Statement Of Origin form. After they have turned one year old, they will need to have the testing done again in order to be shown.
The first step you would take if you are considering showing is to separate out your best birds into a conditioning area. Males and Females should be separated as well. During the months leading up to the show you will want to be be conditioning your birds to have them be at their best. The silkies in the pictures on this page are birds I am considering for this fall’s shows.
It is important to know what the Standard of Perfection for a silkie is. Here is alink to the silkie standard. Understanding what the silkie standard says will help you in choosing which birds you want to put in this conditioning pen.
Silkies you are considering should be kept indoors. The sun can discolor feathers and grass will leave green marks on them. The birds should also be on a bedding that will protect the foot feathers, such as pine shavings. Rocks or hard bedding will break those feathers. Feed them a good diet, high in protein such as a game bird conditioner feed. Calf Manna pellets can be fed as a supplement as well as additional vitamins.
Don’t forget that you will need show cage waterers and cage cups for food. You want them to be as small as possible because the show cages are small to begin with. You do not want your silkie getting wet before judging starts.
You don’t need to jump into showing immediately. Attend some shows this fall to get an idea of what you need to work with next year. Some much can be learned by talking with others who are showing your same breed of bird. Observing winners and taking pictures helps you to remember what makes a Show Quality Silkie.
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 – 8/1/17
How To Check For Mites On A Silkie Chicken
We know that silkies are extra fluffy, but that extra fluffiness can be the perfect spot to harbor mites. Poultry mites are very tiny insects that will from time to time try and set up camp on your silkie. It is a very common and natural occurrence that can happen no matter how clean you keep your coop. If your bird is outside at all, it is being exposed to mites. Many people believe that mites are carried by wild birds. Bird feeders should not be placed near your coop.
When a chicken appears bedraggled and hunched over or when it looks like they have a chronic poopy behind, you should first check to see if it has mites before anything else. It is best to check your silkie on a regular basis in order to head off an infestation before it occurs. Prevention can go a long way in making sure that those mites leave your bird alone.
The first thing we do at VJP Poultry in a check up is to set up our work area. We use an ironing board. Mite checking is easier if two people do it together. One is holding the bird and the other is spreading the feathers. Tools you might need are: scissors that cut feathers, magnifying glass, Adams flea and tick spray, poultry dust and Frontline for dogs or cats.
Capt’N Billy was our model for our pictures. He is a young partridge rooster. The first area we check over is the crest. Use your fingers to spread open the feathers so that you can see the base of the feathers against the chicken’s skin. With silkies it is easiest to look at the feathers. Since the skin is black the dark mites do not show up easily. You are looking for clumps of mites that are moving. Movement is key. The bugs are so tiny that it is easy to confuse it with dirt. If it is moving, its mites. Check in several different places in the crest as they could be anywhere in there.
Next work your way down its neck, checking the beard as well. Look at the base of the feathers. If you find something suspicious, pull the feather out and look at it under the magnifying glass.
We also look at the base of the tail and under the wings. Turn the bird around and check out the vent. You may see little bite marks around the vent. Those bite marks are letting you know that mites have been there. Dust or spray carefully around the vent area. You don’t want any chemicals to enter through the vent.
The powder is a good preventative. Dust the bird lightly with it and work the powder down to the skin. I will also dust the bedding in the coop especially the area where they typically sleep at night.
The spray is used more often if you see some mites. Just spray directly on the area that you find them in. If it is a bad infestation, you may want to give them a bath first using a flea and tick shampoo for dogs or cats.. Always blow dry your silkie afterwards so that they don’t become chilled.
We use Frontline Plus on our silkies. We use one drop on the neck directly onto the skin. It is very effective and will kill both the mites and their eggs that will hatch later. Frontline protection can last for over a year. Frontline is not made for poultry and the company does not encourage its use on other animals besides dogs. You are taking a risk of overdosing your bird if you use too much. Less is better.
Keeping vigilant and do periodic checks. Most birds will experience it at one time or another. Silkies seem more prone to it with their large crests. Having a plan is your best defense against these little critters.
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 