# what are silkies their normal weight?



## mellinda (Jun 24, 2016)

Hello
i would like to learn the normal weight for 2 silky hens.
Our fluffy turned into a sweet all-eating machine. Shes our american silky. Now i'm wondering what are the healthy common weights because we let them stand on a balance to see how slim or heavy they are. 

Fien the small eu silky kriel was a bit too skinny at first sight. So we started to extra feed her. After a couple of times and 2 weeks she gained and is now 934g.

Fluffy sigh... where fien is is fluffy... cannot separate these 2  fluffy even dares with his long neck fetching food out of our bleu de landes' beak haha.
Of all chickens she also eats the lost grain inside.
Name a thing the other 4 dont like, she eats it -except ant eggs 
Fluffy is now 1.530 kg.

I read somewhere that fien her max weight should be 800g en fluffy's max 1.5.

Do my ladies have to go on a diet or is it safe to set the max weight limit at 1kg and 1.7


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

*Bantams*. In the American *Standard* of Perfection, the *standard* male *weight* for the bantam *Silkie* is 1 kg (36 oz) and for the female, 907 g (32 oz). ... The British*standard weight* for bantam *Silkies* is 600 g (22 oz) for males, and 500 g for females (18 oz).
*Silkie - Wikipedia*

And are we talking the bantam Silkie since in Europe there is the large fowl in Silkie. Or are they a mix of the two sizes?

I don't quite understand how they can be that overweight. We generally free feed our birds without weight becoming a problem.

What are you feeding them? Is there an over abundance of treats?


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## mellinda (Jun 24, 2016)

Thank you for the link and the response. I was looking for the word bantam.
Seems like we need to get them on a diet in that case.
No clue what's the best way to do it...

They have grains inside the barn where they sleep (chicken grains mixed with seeds and pees and a bit of laying kernel). Fluffy is the big american (not bantam) one with the long neck. We were alerted when we noticed dad's "mechelse koekoek" koen seemed as heavy as her (while koen should weight 'till 3 kg). Both had a weight of 1.5kg.
They eat the same food as the big ones.

I see fluffy sometimes not eating but gulping... If she gets alongside the others when feeding a bit lettuce, she litterly tears a part of 5 cm, and swallows it in 3 times... We stopped feeding it to her and are only giving the others while she's at her nest. Every 2 days every chicken gets a 7cm salad leaf. Also outside she's constantly eating so much multiple times a day, the green stays visible outside her beak while she keeps on eating. She finally started laying eggs 1.5 weeks ago.

Of all chickens she goes inside the most to eat the grains. We are not able to close the barn because the other ones need their food more then she does. Putting it outside will not work since (too much sparrows, pidges, etc).

She learned to use her long neck and even grabs everything she can from the bleu de landes and the harco. Sigh... One non-stop eating machine... Although she and Fien are always sprinting along the area outside.

The eu little bantam fien weighs now 934 after feeding her extra. We stopped that a week and half ago. Seems like too much according to the standards... She is feeling alot better when she was then before. Before she was lethargic and weighted 790g. Also she seemed to have a severe lack of energy while now she's trice as active as before. She never went inside for her grain so we gave her grain inside the house i have to admid.

All chickens also have shattered shells in- and outside.
We tried for the grain to put a little feeder box thing that normally chicks use to put inside for the silkies, only Fien is eating of it - and sigh... my dad's koekoek...
Fluffy is just eating along with the big ones.

Edit: ow... can plums play a part in it  just remembered our plum tree in the coop has been loosing plums... I remember my dad saying he saw the silkies eating from it


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Chickens are like cows and horses, they're grazers. If they're not sleeping, they're grazing. I wouldn't worry about the salad greens, not much there to add extra weight. 

I would just keep doing what you're doing. Some birds are just bigger. The standard sizes I posted are a breeding standard something breeders must keep in mind when breeding their birds.


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