13/04/2024
Welcome to Mother Clucker's Silkies 2024 breeding year!
The end of 2023 was a sad time, as I lost almost all my adult flock and grow-outs to a crafty fox. Fortunately the best birds were saved by being in cages, and I am in the process of slowly rebuilding the breeding pens. Some trios are finally reaching maturity now, others are months away.
Because if this, I likely won't have any hatching eggs or chicks available until late summer or fall, but this year I will have the following colors available from exhibition-quality stock:
APA/ABA Accepted Colors (Approved for 4H):
Blue/Blue Splash
White
Project Colors (not approved for 4H, but acceptable at Open shows):
Black Cuckoo
Blue Partridge
Blue Cream
I do not have naked-neck, satin, or frizzle. I am NPIP certified, and located in Plain City, Ohio.
2024 availability and pricing:
Deposits of 50% will be required to reserve hatching eggs or chicks. Unfortunately I have been ghosted too many times to make exeptions. If you ghost me, I keep the deposit, and put you on my "do not sell" list, which gets shared with other local breeders.
Hatching eggs for local pick-up: $100/dozen.
Hatching eggs shipped: $120.
Chicks:
Young chicks may be available periodically, just ask!
I do not sell chicks before they are two weeks old, to ensure that they are hardy. I only sell chicks in good health, but once they are out of my care I can make no guarantees.
All chicks are straight-run.
"Pet quality" chicks are rare, even in my project colors, because I am careful in picking breeding birds, but they do crop up occasionally. They start at $15.
Chicks that are correct in comb and toes start at $25.
Grow-outs over 12 weeks will be available and priced on a case-by-case basis.
Paperwork for 4H birds is available. If you are looking for 4H birds I do reccomend buying in the late summer/early fall for the next year. Good quality Silkies can easily take six months to be mature enough to be shown.
Care and feeding:
I feed all Kalmbach feeds. Chicks from hatch until roughly 8-10 weeks are fed 18% Chick Starter. from 10-18 weeks I feed 20% Flock Raiser. From 18 weeks onward I feed 22% unmedicated Game Bird, with free choice oyster shell for my girls. Silkies need a higher protein feed than a standard layer bird to help maintain their feathers.
I give vitamins in drinking water about once a week. I use Rooster Booster Poultry Cell, but as long as whatever you use has complete B complex as well as E and Selenium you will be ok.
