Sunday, January 11, 2009

No Boys Allowed!!!

It has been an interesting week around The Hennery.
Especially if you are a Silkie. I have three broody Silkie hens,
three growing Silkie chicks
and three dressed out Silkie roos.
And two Silkie roos that have been kicked out of their snug home.



This is the old potting shed. I know it is not pretty, but boy!, is it handy.
The Silkies, being that they are Sweet Husband's favorites
are not forced to live in the big barn like normal chickens.
They get the comfort of the potting shed with it's brick walls and
big windows and access to the yard by the house.

Even if I am brooding chicks in there the Silkies get to stay
as they are all great parents.. even Papa Ppfootie.





But Papa Ppfootie is a bit of a control freak who bosses his ladies
mercilessly and when they are all brooding he just has fits.
They don't obey!
They don't eat when he says!
They are unresponsive to his romantic overtures!
And he harrasses them terribly.
So, Papa is out!
And so very unhappy. He keeps pacing the front and crowing and clawing at the door.
Poor Papa. No boys allowed.

Meanwhile, inside the potting shed...


This is my mother and daughter pair hard at work


And this is my favorite girl. So pretty with her top knot of fluff.





And these guys are growing up quick.
There is nothin uglier than a Silkie chick!
There is another chick in there too, but it was being shy and hiding under
Black Broody.



And this is what became of three members
of 'The Jackson 5'.
I had Black Broody and 4 Black Silkie roos.
(What would you call them?)

I butchered 3 of the Jacksons yesterday and had every
intention of butchering all of the roos, but I am a softie at heart.
I grabbed up one of the roos to carry outside
and instead of fighting and squawking,
the horrible bird was as calm and still as could be and laid his head
under my neck for a snuggle. *%!#@&$!!

So, I now have a black roo and a white roo.
I suppose it works well as I do have the black hen.
Sigh.

As you can see, the dressed Silkies look a bit odd.
They have black meat and in many cultures
their meat is valued as a delicacy and used as a health tonic.
I have yet to eat a Silkie.
Mine are sold before they are even butchered.
Maybe one day I will get a chance to try it out.





And this is what is going on inside this week.
I had 5 chicks hatch at the beginning of the week.
Time will tell what they are, but at least one is
a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte and one is
my Old Fashioned White Layers
(a homegrown breed of white birds)
As for the others.. time will tell.
And other than that it has been a week of garden planning,
seed catalog perusing and burn out!
I even dream about the damn garden and all of those seeds.
And it is fast approaching time to start seeds around here.
I need to just make the decisions and spend the money
and get the ball rolling.

3 comments:

  1. What a great post! Silkies are so funny! I couldn't have killed the one who was snuggling either. LOL! Thanks for posting the pics of how they look dressed out, that is so helpful!

    I love the potting shed - what a great place for brooding and letting the silkies live!

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  2. Wow--those are some odd-looking dressed birds! To whom do you sell them?

    We had two lovely white silkies that I intended to use as broodies in our flock. A neighbour's dog got both (and our friendly Buff Cochin) during a killing spree. Our yours free range? If we get silkies or cochins again, we probably won't keep them free range with the rest of the flock, because they're just too docile to survive a predator attack.

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  3. Hi..
    I sell my birds to a lovely lady of Asian descent who uses them as a tonic.
    And mine do free range and alone in their own little flock. I worry sick over them, but they have managed to survive when many of my larger birds have not. They are a paranoid lot, given to running and hiding under buildings and things if the winds shift, so perhaps that is why they have made it so long.
    My main barn houses my other 80+ birds and they do not cross the invisible line in the yard between their half ad the Silkies' half. If they do.. oh man! It is on. The Silkies attack, driving the bigger birds back up the yard and across 'the line' with much furious cursing.
    I would like to house the Silkies in a nice pen in the barn.. but first! Such a pen would ahve to be constructed and I am waiting...waiting...waiting..sigh
    jen

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