FeatherSong Farm

10/01/2021

FeatherSong Farm is moving. Updates to come soon from the new farm location!

Much love and gratitude to each and every silkie enthusiast we have met here along the way, most of all to those who made room in their coops and in their hearts to welcome our sweet silkies through the years. We look forward to sharing our love of silkies with many more new friends as well!

For now we’re flying the coop, onward to new pastures, where the sights and sounds of FeatherSong Farm will once again rejoice. ♡

09/28/2021

Partridge Breeding Pair

09/26/2021

Porcelain (Blue Cream) Breeding Pair

09/26/2021

White Breeding Pair

09/18/2021

FeatherSong Farm is moving. Updates to come soon from the new farm location!

Much love and gratitude to each and every silkie enthusiast we have met here along the way, most of all to those who made room in their coops and in their hearts to welcome our sweet silkies through the years. We look forward to sharing our love of silkies with many more new friends as well!

For now we’re flying the coop, onward to new pastures, where the sights and sounds of FeatherSong Farm will once again rejoice. ♡

03/28/2021

Sweet Little Clover ☘️

12/15/2020

Winter Whites

12/15/2020

A bowl full of fluff.

11/09/2020

Today we welcomed the newest peep to the nest! A black frizzle Serama, this wee one is about the size of a hummingbird and is an early arrival from a Serama clutch due to hatch tomorrow.

10/31/2020

Happy Pearl-O-Ween from the whole flock at FeatherSong Farm!

10/13/2020

When Phyllis hatched on June, 17, 2020 she immediately stole our hearts. She could be heard chattering away inside her eggshell for hours before pipping. But after hours of struggling with the zip process, the happy noise quieted. After a long rest our little survivor finally chipped her way out, tilted her head, stared us in straight in the eye and chirped happily. This adorable greeting would soon become her signature expression. She is smaller than her peers so to avoid getting knocked around in the group Phyllis often entertains herself and is always a happy little ball of golden sunshine.

10/13/2020

Phyllis- our little frizzled ball of sunshine

10/10/2020

🥚 A wonderful surprise has been delivered to FeatherSong Farm! 🥚
Thank-you to cool customers (and new friends) Annie and Sophia for the thoughtful (and very useful) gift! Enjoy your new chicks, and I will think of you both every time I collect eggs with my beautiful new egg collecting apron.

09/04/2020

New peeps will be breaking out of their shells on Sept. 13th! Colors in this batch include partridge, buff, lavender, blue and white.

The color-specific wait lists are growing fast in anticipation of their arrival! PM or email at [email protected] for availability and more information.

08/31/2020

More little peeps join the nest regularly here at FeatherSong Farm! We are an NPIP certified facility and breed bearded silkies to SOP. Contact us for availability and additional information.

08/04/2020

Straight run bearded silkie chicks | white, buff, red, self-blue (lavender), blue splash, paint, crele, and partridge | Ages range from hours to 6 weeks old | Chicks meet APA standards for confirmation and color and come from winning blood lines | Summer heat prevents shipping, local pick-up only from NPIP breeder in North Port, FL | PM for details

07/16/2020

Straight run bearded silkie chicks | white, buff, red, self-blue (lavender), partridge | Summer heat prevents shipping, local pick-up only | PM for details

* UPDATE: ALL HAVE FOUND FOREVER HOMES

07/09/2020

Keep calm and keep chickens. Both will help you through the madness. 🐓

07/04/2020

It’s Independence Day. The noise in the sky can be scary for our feathered family members. We suggest playing music (ours love classical) in the coop tonight and checking in with them periodically to help ease anxiety and fear.

07/03/2020

Good morning, Glory! This little firecracker is from lavender parents Indi and Iris. If you are interested in learning more about lavender bearded silkie chicks, contact us for more information.

07/02/2020

Which Grasshoppers Can Chickens Eat?

A good rule of thumb is, grasshoppers are non-toxic and edible if they are plainly colored. The brightly colored ones, like the Eastern Lubber in adult stage, have toxic alkaloids in their blood and exude a vile toxin foam when touched which irritates skin and make them quite poisonous. They can kill a small bird or mammal if ingested. Larger animals will become violently ill and get quite a stomach ache.

Nature’s cue: if both aerial and terrestrial predators do not eat them, it is not safe for a chicken either. I’ve watched hawks attack and kill them and then fly off. I’ve even seen turkey vultures, who I thought ate just about everything, spit them out quickly due to the vile toxin foam that exudes from the lubber.

Toxins are not the only potential danger of these grasshoppers. They also carry roundworms. A chicken infected with roundworm can then transmit this deadly intestinal parasite to the rest of the flock. If not caught early, this can lead to extreme illness and death.

They thrive here in south Florida as there is only one natural predator—a small bird called the the loggerhead shrike. We try to control their population on FeatherSong Farm by always being on the lookout for them early in their instar stage as nymphs when they tend to bunch together and are easier to eradicate. Although they may not be toxic at this life stage, they are often found to already be infected with roundworms so we don’t chance it and do not give them to the chickens even when they are in the black nymph stage. When adult lubbers are found, we chop them with a machete and use rubber gloves when touching them to dispose of the carcass.

06/26/2020

Gotta love how silkies come right outta the egg already rocking the top knot! 🐣

06/23/2020

Chick TV. A popular pastime in the nursery.

06/10/2020

Straight run bearded silkie chicks | *UPDATE: ALL HAVE FOUND FOREVER HOMES

05/30/2020

Class photos with a dozen little uncooperative Seramas who did not want to sit still for the camera. 🐥

05/13/2020

05/12/2020

This U.S.D.A. ad was published in newspapers and magazines nationwide during World War I (1914-1918). It was intended to calm fears about food rationing and encourage citizens to be as self-sufficient as possible by keeping their chickens rather than selling them off for much needed cash, as was happening in the early days of the war when panic set in. People were afraid they wouldn’t be able to afford to keep their livestock because of added feed costs.
This was a reminder that chickens can live off kitchen food scraps along with a bit of supplemental feed and that the nutritional value of the eggs that hens provide far exceed the minimal cost of keeping chickens. And that any additional eggs could be sold for profit. This ad campaign was successful as citizens kept their livestock, and along with their backyard gardens, were able to grow and raise their own food during the scarcity of war time.

04/29/2020

Those were the days... When citizens were encouraged to have chickens and plant victory gardens... and notice the date in the ad is 1918- the year of the Spanish flu pandemic. Sound familiar at all?!
Nowadays, HOAs and municipalities have written rules against it and McMansions and manicured lawns in gated communities are far more prevalent than homesteads with gardens and backyard chickens.
It defies logic that store bought food laden with GMOs, growth hormones, pesticides, artificial flavors and colors, packed in toxic off-gas producing styrofoam and shrink-wrapped plastic, is preferred over homegrown organic food.
Yet another reason to return to the backyard farms that fed so many previous generations!

04/25/2020

Robin loves recess!

Chickens that are not provided with adequate enrichment and mental stimulation tend to develop problem behaviors. Crowding and confinement without anything to do can lead to bullying, egg eating and feather pecking. This is the origin of the expression, “feeling cooped up!” Stagnant air, dank or dusty conditions can also contribute to respiratory illnesses. Give your flock the opportunity to “fly the coop” periodically with a supervised break on fresh grass or in a garden. You will enjoy it as much as they will!

04/24/2020

Pearl in deep contemplation.

04/23/2020

FEATHER FACTS: Silkie feathers do not have barbs holding the strands together, so they form many individual silky strands. This gives them their fluffy appearance and their silky softness. Some people say that the Silkie's feathers "feel just like angora fur."

Silkies also have few feathers growing down their legs and over their middle toe.

04/22/2020

Maple & Honey | When fully matured they will be a happy little buff breeding pair - they LOVE each other very much!

04/22/2020

Straight run | Hatched this week | FOUND THEIR FOREVER HOMES!

04/22/2020

DNA sexed partridge pullet | Hatched 3/1/20 | FOUND HER FOREVER HOME!

04/22/2020

DNA sexed partridge cockerel | Hatched 3/1/20 | FOUND HIS FOREVER HOME!