Silkies or Silkie Chickens as pets. Silkie chickens as pets. Silkie Bantams facts, raising, breeding, care, food and where to buy all covered. Including black, white, Chinese and bearded silkie chickens.

By Elliott Lang

Everything you need to know about Silkies or Silkie Chickens as pets.

This book is a must have guide for anybody passionate about Silkie Chickens, Silkies or Silkie Bantams.

Facts and information, raising, breeding, care, food and where to buy all included. Black, white, Chinese and bearded silkie chickens also covered.

The book is written in an easy to read and understandable style.

In a straight forward, no nonsense fashion, Elliott Lang covers all aspects of keeping Silkie Chickens. The book is full of sound advice and answers to your questions.

“ They are just adorable little creatures. This book has given me all I need to know to keep my silkies happy!
Adrian Maston
Well I certainly didn't know that there is so much to know to simply keep some silkies. This book is written in a very easy to read style and it gives all the information needed to keep silkie bantams.
Lindsey Thompson

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elliott Lang
• Release date: Aug 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781910410448

Book preview

Silkies or Silkie Chickens as pets.

Silkie chickens as pets.

Silkie Bantams facts, raising, breeding, care, food and where to buy all covered.

Including black, white, Chinese and bearded silkie chickens.

by

Elliott Lang

~~~

Smashwords Edition

Published by IMB Publishing 2013

Copyright and Trademarks. This publication is Copyright 2013 by IMB Publishing. All products, publications, software and services mentioned and recommended in this publication are protected by trademarks. In such instance, all trademarks & copyright belong to the respective owners.

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1 - An Introduction to Silkie Chickens

--1. History of Silkie Chickens

--2. General Characteristics of Silkie Chickens

--3. Breed Improvements and Show Popularity

--4. Egg Production and Use as Meat

--5. Types of Silkie Chickens

Chapter 2 - Keeping Backyard Silkie Chickens

--1. Legal Considerations

--2. Building Chicken Enclosures

--3. Keeping Your Chickens Confined to a Coop

--4. Free Ranging with Nighttime Roosting

--5. The Compromise Solution of Limited Ranging

--6. Chickens Drive Tractors?

--7. Keeping Chickens in the House

--8. Taking Precautions Against Predators

Chapter 3 - Your Silkie Chicken as Part of the Family

--1. Silkie Chickens and Other Chickens in Outside Enclosures

--2. Silkie Chickens and Other Pets

--3. Keeping House Chickens

Chapter 4 - Buying Silkie Chicks or Fertilized Eggs

--1. How Many Chickens Can You Keep?

--2. Fertilized Eggs, Chicks, or Grown Birds

--3. Buying Silkie Chicks Online

--4. How to Tell if Chicks Are Healthy

--5. Precautions About Hatchery Chicks

Chapter 5 - Daily Care of Silkie Chickens

--1. Food and Water, Availability and Containers

--2. Types of Foods for Your Chickens

--3. Cleaning the Enclosure

--4. Seasonal Care

--5. Monitoring Your Chickens’ Health

--6. Maintenance and Grooming

--7. Managing Stress in the Environment

--8. Approximate Monthly Costs

Chapter 6 - Overview of Silkie Chicken Health

--1. Warning Signs of Illness

--2. Coccidiosis

--3. Mites and Lice

--4. Scaly Leg Mite

--5. Marek’s Disease

--6. Water on the Brain

--7. Mycoplasma

--8. Taking Precautions Against Salmonella Infection from Live Chickens

--9. Finding Poultry Veterinarians

Chapter 7 - Breeding and Raising Silkie Chickens

--1. Natural Hatching v. Incubators

--2. Choosing an Incubator

--3. Incubation and Hatching

--4. Brooding Newly Hatched Chicks

--5. Avian DNA Sex Determination

--6. Determining Quality of the Birds

--7. Common Birth Defects in Silkie Chickens

Chapter 8 - Showing Silkie Chickens

--1. Before the Show

--2. Silkie Chicken Showmanship

--3. Suitability of Silkies for Show

Afterword

List of Relevant Websites

Frequently Asked Questions and Silkie Chicken Facts

Appendix I - Show Standard in the United States

Appendix II - Show Standard in the United Kingdom

Glossary

Works Cited

Foreword

There are many conventional reasons to keep chickens, the most practical being a desire to gather eggs or to help you control pests in your garden. Being practical will not be a consideration, however, once you realize how adorable these birds are.

Once you spend even a brief amount of time watching the hatchlings prance around soon after birth and chirping as if to call out your name, your heart will melt.

These small, fluffy birds are so unique that at one time it was a common misconception that they are a chicken / rabbit hybrid. That is, of course, a biological impossibility, but when you pet a Silkie for the first time, the sensation will remind you of running your hand across the finest down.

Don’t be surprised to see a different spelling when referring to these lovely creatures. The name Silkie chicken is sometimes spelled Silky chicken and you may see both referenced in this text.

The feathers of a Silkie lack the little hooks that would hold the individual strands together to create a more rigid structure. Silkies are not only pet-able, they love to be petted. Many owners say they value their little friends for just how unlike chickens they really are!

Naysayers may protest that owning a pet chicken is just too much trouble, but that’s really not the case. They don’t have to be walked. They eat all the time, so there’s no scheduled feedings, you just have to make clean food and water consistently available.

They don’t have to be bathed — although Silkies love a day at the spa — and if you keep your chicken in the house, it can be diapered.

Yes, you can diaper your Silkie and it will let you do it. You can even train your Silkie to wear a harness and use a leash. It’s a complete misconception that chickens are unintelligent. They are not capable of understanding complex language, but they do catch on quickly, especially if you reinforce their training with a tasty treat — a grape or maybe a nice piece of banana.

But wait. Don’t chickens eat corn and grain and stuff? Yes. But they will also eat table scraps and insects —