# Bantam silkie



## Chickie-babe (Feb 23, 2014)

I'm new to raising chicks so I have a weird question. My bantam silkie is two weeks old and she's about as big as my Orpington. She's also must bigger than my Bantie Cochin. Was there a mix up at the hatchery? It's no big deal. I'm just curious. 


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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

I'm guessing hatchery suprise....

The hatchery worker was probably working fast and grabbed from the wrong batch.

I hope you weren't dead set on this being a bantam silkie.


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## Chickie-babe (Feb 23, 2014)

No, although my little Cochin won't have anyone her size to play with. She cuddles up next to my little Aracauna who will soon outgrow her. 


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

In the US Silkies are only bantams. Large bantams but still bantams. 

A pic of the group might help some what. It could just be a large, fast growing peep.


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## Chickie-babe (Feb 23, 2014)

Miss Frizzle, my bantam silkie, must have had a growth spurt sooner than the rest of her gal pals. They are much taller than she is now. Here's another question: is one brand of chicken/chick feed better than another? Right now, I'm feeding my chicks Purina medicated chick food. 


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I didn't use medicated after several years of raising them. In my situation it just wasn't necessary. 

Fresh is the important part. Very often feed stores will sell stuff that is up to six months old. At six months much of the vitamin potency has been leached out.

Mine got feed with animal protein included.


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## Chickie-babe (Feb 23, 2014)

Thanks so much for your help. 


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## chicksRus (Jun 17, 2014)

question 1: i thought 'bantam silkie' was a redundancy, because i read that all silkies are bantams. so how would the worker pull from a container of standard sized silkies if there aren't any in our country? but there are standard sized silkies in other countries? question 2: what is in medicated feed? 
question 3: in what situation is it necessary to use medicated?
question 4: at the seed and feed store we go to they have ten pound bags of 'chick starter' that they have packaged into plain brown paper bags, taped at the top. i am going there today to get more, and i will ask them again where it comes from. i think they said 'tucker mills', cannot remember where. so how do i know what it is made from and how old it is? what if they say that they don't know, and i will have that distinctly frustrating feeling of not being able to be certain of what i am starting my chick's lives with? i will want to confront them for not knowing, but i won't, just like i won't accuse them of not caring. people are usually just doing the best that they can.
question 5: is it preferable to have animal protein in the feed? what animal does it come from?
i'm reading the ingredient list on the bag of 'country fine start and grow crumbles manufactured for bainbridge bag co., bainbridge georgia.'
corn and soybean meal (no way to find if its gmo), poultry by product meal (this is cannibalism), and it has whey and alfalfa (another possible gmo crop), animal fat, and vitamins and minerals.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Chiks, please use the return key more often. Its hard to read a huge paragraph like that with multiple questions. 

1. Although there are some trying to develop a large fowl Silkie, in the states only have bantams. Large fowl Silkies are in other countries. 

2. Medicated feed is chick feed with amprollium in it.

3. For young chicks exposed to anything from outdoors. Cocci is a killer for young chicks which they have little immunity to.

4. Tucker, I believe is a local mill. That's a big plus. You can't know when it was milled since they are repackaging it. But if they are doing it in five pound bags the sales must be there to warrant it.

5. Birds seem to do better on animal protein as opposed to soy based only protein. Yep, I noticed more and more are going towards the chicken meal. Some have pork or fish as the source of the protein. BTW, chickens can be cannibalistic.


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## back2simplelife (Jul 6, 2013)

aww do you have pictures?


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

The breeder I got some of my silkies off of has "large" silkies and bantams. The lagged ones are still bantams, they've just been selectively bred over the years to be closer to a small standard chicken as opposed to the little munchkins. I LOVE large silkies. More to snuggle


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