This is her last October. I only let her sit on 3 eggs that time, and all 3 chicks hatched ended up being female and lay eggs themselves now, some of which are under my broody hen
When the last 3 chicks hatched a brahma hen got into a mothering mood and helped the silkie hen teach her babies how to eat
Silkies are based. It's kind of annoying you have to worry about keeping them dry much more than others but they've always been strong with healthy instincts in my experience. Don't have any at the moment but if I ever finish my plans for a secondary paddock + coop attached to the garden I'll definitely get them for garden chickens
Cute Silkie, anon. She’s a good mama.
Do their eggs taste any different than standard chicken eggs? I always wanted to raise one or two if I ever had larger property.
>Do their eggs taste any different than standard chicken eggs?
Yes. My chickens freerange on a quarter of an acre and the egg yolks are much darker and the eggs taste... idk how to describe it, more egg flavored?
Depends on their feed and the eggs you compare them too. Feed additives can change the flavor of their eggs. I'm feeding my chickens feed fermented with apple cider vinegar and adding 1% cayenne pepper for chicken health and yolk color, 2% biochar for digestion and improving manure quality, and 3% garlic powder for chicken health and egg quality as well as letting them free range so they can do free lawn care and eat pests around the garden. It's worth feeding your chickens organic feed to minimize the glyphosate in their diet too, since it can get into the eggs. My eggs are huge and everyone who tries them prefers them over store bought and sometimes over their own eggs.
Have any of you chickengays ever actually slaughtered and butchered one? I’ve always wanted to do that myself at least once, but I live in an apartment
Nah, my wife is way too attached to our chickens. Plus it stresses out the flock to lose a hen. I lost one to a predator and their egg production was halved for weeks. I don't know how people take advantage of dual purpose birds. Maybe the flock becomes hardened to the losses after a while.
>Do their eggs taste any different than standard chicken eggs?
Yes. My chickens freerange on a quarter of an acre and the egg yolks are much darker and the eggs taste... idk how to describe it, more egg flavored?
What is it specifically that makes their yolks deep orange? I’ve work in restaurants that work with free range farm eggs only and it’s a real treat to see how the colour of those yolks enhance our food.
Makes some really rich yellow coloured tiramisu and pastry creams.
It's carotenes, which are various forms of vitamin A. They come from red and orange foods. Red peppers, pumpkins, carrots, yams, ect. It's mostly an aesthetic thing since you get more vitamin A from having a carrot with your eggs then you do from eating eggs with really orange or red yolks, but a lot of the foods that contain carotenes are good for the birds.
Have any of you chickengays ever actually slaughtered and butchered one? I’ve always wanted to do that myself at least once, but I live in an apartment
Slaughtered? yes. Butchered? not yet.
We've kept chickens only as eggers for years, but we also hadn't hatched any in a long time.
Just hatched a dozen and have another 50+ comin'. The plan is to keep the unneeded roosters all together, separate from all the hens, and slaughter/butcher them when they are ripe.
Oh but if anyone is curious, we are doing much larger birds then the ones in my pic, too.
Not much meat on the little fellers, theyre more just for selling chicks and fertile eggs. Theyre worth a fair amount while also not requiring as much feed because theyre smoll.
a Silkie will sit on golf balls if you shove them under while she's sleeping
I don't know if that's very admirable from an evolutionary perspective.
But I suppose many of the traits we admire in people run contrary to evolutionary instinct
This is her last October. I only let her sit on 3 eggs that time, and all 3 chicks hatched ended up being female and lay eggs themselves now, some of which are under my broody hen
When the last 3 chicks hatched a brahma hen got into a mothering mood and helped the silkie hen teach her babies how to eat
cute!
Silkies are based. It's kind of annoying you have to worry about keeping them dry much more than others but they've always been strong with healthy instincts in my experience. Don't have any at the moment but if I ever finish my plans for a secondary paddock + coop attached to the garden I'll definitely get them for garden chickens
What a sweet chicken. My rooster still hasn't figured out how to have sex so I need to get my broody girl off her eggs.
Cute Silkie, anon. She’s a good mama.
Do their eggs taste any different than standard chicken eggs? I always wanted to raise one or two if I ever had larger property.
>Do their eggs taste any different than standard chicken eggs?
Yes. My chickens freerange on a quarter of an acre and the egg yolks are much darker and the eggs taste... idk how to describe it, more egg flavored?
Depends on their feed and the eggs you compare them too. Feed additives can change the flavor of their eggs. I'm feeding my chickens feed fermented with apple cider vinegar and adding 1% cayenne pepper for chicken health and yolk color, 2% biochar for digestion and improving manure quality, and 3% garlic powder for chicken health and egg quality as well as letting them free range so they can do free lawn care and eat pests around the garden. It's worth feeding your chickens organic feed to minimize the glyphosate in their diet too, since it can get into the eggs. My eggs are huge and everyone who tries them prefers them over store bought and sometimes over their own eggs.
Nah, my wife is way too attached to our chickens. Plus it stresses out the flock to lose a hen. I lost one to a predator and their egg production was halved for weeks. I don't know how people take advantage of dual purpose birds. Maybe the flock becomes hardened to the losses after a while.
What is it specifically that makes their yolks deep orange? I’ve work in restaurants that work with free range farm eggs only and it’s a real treat to see how the colour of those yolks enhance our food.
Makes some really rich yellow coloured tiramisu and pastry creams.
It's carotenes, which are various forms of vitamin A. They come from red and orange foods. Red peppers, pumpkins, carrots, yams, ect. It's mostly an aesthetic thing since you get more vitamin A from having a carrot with your eggs then you do from eating eggs with really orange or red yolks, but a lot of the foods that contain carotenes are good for the birds.
Have any of you chickengays ever actually slaughtered and butchered one? I’ve always wanted to do that myself at least once, but I live in an apartment
Slaughtered? yes. Butchered? not yet.
We've kept chickens only as eggers for years, but we also hadn't hatched any in a long time.
Just hatched a dozen and have another 50+ comin'. The plan is to keep the unneeded roosters all together, separate from all the hens, and slaughter/butcher them when they are ripe.
Oh but if anyone is curious, we are doing much larger birds then the ones in my pic, too.
Not much meat on the little fellers, theyre more just for selling chicks and fertile eggs. Theyre worth a fair amount while also not requiring as much feed because theyre smoll.
Cute
I want to keep chickens now
a Silkie will sit on golf balls if you shove them under while she's sleeping
I don't know if that's very admirable from an evolutionary perspective.
But I suppose many of the traits we admire in people run contrary to evolutionary instinct
she cute
She cute. OP do you keep quails? I want to get into those because I've been told they're actually decent at apartment growing.
>quails
>apartment growing
Maybe you'll have a better experience, but they are way too finicky for apartment growing in my opinion.