Dead Silky

jaystar · **Joined:** Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:04 pm **Posts:** 18

After getting 4 14 week old silkies from a reputable breeder for school a couple of weeks ago one was found dead on Monday morning. Strangely I would have thought it the most robust and certainly the boldest. As they are still not going up and down the ramp to their sleeping quarters at night they are locked up as the nights are cold. On the weekends they are locked up from Friday afternoon to Monday morning. It is a large wooden structure with straw, crumble and plenty of water. It has not been hot during the day.

Any clues?

Blak1 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 30, 2013 8:04 pm

Oh no! It's awful to loose a big chick - 14 wo curse! I'm having issues too. Is the brand of crumbles the same as the breeder was using?

jaystar · **Joined:** Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:04 pm **Posts:** 18

Yes, I got the crumble from the breeder. They were vaccinated. Hopefully just a random event. I am still struggling with getting them to go up and down the ramp to their sleeping quarters. What sort of gradient is manageable? Additionally, we rescued a disabled silky with a deformed foot who hops a bit (we are a school for disabled children so how could we say no).

At the moment are thinking of extending the ramp giving less gradient or installing a nesting box at ground level. Any suggestions welcome.

Chicka-Dee · **Joined:** Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:12 am **Posts:** 1194

jaystar wrote:

After getting 4 14 week old silkies from a reputable breeder for school a couple of weeks ago one was found dead on Monday morning. Strangely I would have thought it the most robust and certainly the boldest. As they are still not going up and down the ramp to their sleeping quarters at night they are locked up as the nights are cold. On the weekends they are locked up from Friday afternoon to Monday morning. It is a large wooden structure with straw, crumble and plenty of water. It has not been hot during the day.

Any clues?

Any chance that feces is getting into their water during the weekend when no one is looking after them? If this is a possibility then they could be getting sick & developing an illness over time & then just dropping dead due to an illness related to the fecal matter in their drinking water.

Any chance someone can swing by over the weekend to clean out their water if this is happening.

Take some photos of their home so we can see what their living situation is like. It may help bring more suggestions to the table.

Cheers
Chicka-Dee

C.K · **Posted:** Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:39 pm

Silky's have a vaulted skull and can be prone to head injures they can also spook easy
So could have hit its head ? Some birds just die for no apparent reason .
Just a thought.
That should be spook ie scare , darn auto type on an iPad.

jaystar · **Joined:** Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:04 pm **Posts:** 18

Thanks for your replies. What does spoke injuries mean? It is possible that contaminated water was the problem as I did find poo in it. When they are out in the run (which is fox-proof) their water hangs so it is not a problem. They are locked up every night due to the cold weather - up a ramp which they still haven't worked out - and harder for the one with the gammy foot. There is a space underneath where an nesting box could be built so they could go in and out so the water could always stay outside. If it was filled with straw, would they go in there to sleep or stay outside and freeze?

Chicka-Dee · **Joined:** Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:12 am **Posts:** 1194

jaystar wrote:

There is a space underneath where a nesting box could be built so they could go in and out so the water could always stay outside. If it was filled with straw, would they go in there to sleep or stay outside and freeze?

Good idea for the water to stay out. [smilie=a_goodjobson.gif]

I believe they would go into the nesting box and would not stay out and freeze, but if they did stay out they would most likely huddle together.

Such a hard circumstance for you. Really sorry to hear you are having such trouble.

No chance they can be part of a weekend adoption programme where someone takes them home and cares for them each weekend???

jaystar · **Joined:** Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:04 pm **Posts:** 18

Thanks Chickadee

No I think for the students' families to take them home on a roster for the weekend wouldn't work. The kids are all severely disabled and the parents struggle just to look after them. I take the chickens home in the holidays but it is a pain as my chickens attack them so they need to be kept separately. I wouldn't like to do this every weekend.

These are our first silkies and we got them as we thought that they would be lovely pets for the kids - and the kids just love holding or stroking them. We previously had isa browns who were eaten by a fox when let out by vandals.

Chickababe · **Posted:** Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:40 pm

The nest box underneath with some protection around it would be ok.

A couple of weeks ago my 3 silkie girls were separated from their rooster while free ranging. All chickens made it back to the coop except for the 3 silkies. With a torch we went in search for them. They were found all on top if each other in a little nook next to a piece of wood and our brick house. Even when they all make it back to the coop, we often find 2 silkie girls, 1 silkie rooster and a little rosecomb all squashed into one nest box for the night. :lol:

I often put my hand in under them (checking for eggs) and they are toasty.

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