When you have more than a few silkies to care for, it is easy to begin performing tasks on autopilot, just doing what needs to be done, feeding, watering, cleaning cages or pens, and not actually paying much attention to the birds themselves.  We all lead such busy lives, multi-tasking has become commonplace for everyone.

Spending just a few minutes each day in quiet observation of your flock can pay dividends in identifying illnesses, problems with specific birds, and much more.  Often by the time a chicken develops obvious symptoms of illness, it is too late to save the bird.   While doing chores, feeding, cleaning, etc., just observe - what do you hear, see and smell?

Are your birds moving around normally?  Look for any that appear lethargic or are not moving naturally.
Normal hen and rooster sounds (clucking, crowing, etc)?  Do the crowing roosters sound healthy, or squeaky & hoarse?
If you have young chicks, are they making those sweet chick sounds?
Are they scattered around the brooder, or huddled together in one spot?  Are they active, eating and drinking, or are they panting?
What are the hens doing?
Do you hear sneezing, coughing, or unusual sounds?
When cleaning cages, look at the birds' faces for swelling, nasal discharge, brightness of eyes, (might need to move the crest to see a silkie's eyes!)  Look at the vent area for diarrhea or vent gleet.  Does anything smell unusual or exceptionally bad in the cage?  Do the droppings in the cage look normal and healthy?
When filling feed cups, has the bird eaten an expected amount? Observe the same for water consumption. 

In the last few weeks, my habit of daily observation has saved the lives of 2 valuable birds.  While feeding my laying flock of standard hens, I noticed a hen that just looked a little "hunchy".  She was scratching for food, but wasn't moving around as much as normal. When I walked over and easily picked her up, I knew she had a serious problem.  Unlike my silkies, the large laying hens don't welcome contact, and scurry away when you try to handle them.  An examination showed that she was just covered with mites, a really bad case.   I dusted her with a poultry insecticide, and placed her in a large cage outside, away from the other birds.  After an hour, I bathed her in Adams Flea & Tick Shampoo - it took 2 complete soapings to kill all the mites. After a blow-dry, she was moved to a cage in our silkie building and fed an enhanced diet with vitamins and extra protein to help her build her blood supply back up.   This hen was really in bad shape and probably would have died in another 48 hours if I hadn't caught the problem. After 4 days in a separate cage with a special diet, she was well enough to be returned to the flock. That night I examined and sprayed all of the laying hens, expecting to find mites on most of them, but only one had any evidence of mites, and only a mild case.  So for whatever reason, this one hen attracted most of the mites in the area and almost succumbed to a mite infestation.

One week later, I was caring for the young silkies in the outside brooder pen.  I love watching the little silkies as they dart about their large covered enclosure, they are so comical.  One caught my eye because of the way it was holding its wings, they were kind of droopy.  I picked it up, and was appalled to find that it weighed about 1/3 of the normal weight for a chick of that size and age.  Breathing was normal, vent was clean and no sign of diarrhea, no bugs or mites on this baby.  Eyes were a little dull, no nasal discharge or swelling in the face.  The chick did not show any neurological problems.
  I first thought it might be a "failure to thrive" chick, one that just doesn't have the will to eat and care for itself, perhaps caused by a genetic abnormality or unknown illness.   But this chick was about 7 weeks old, and wouldn't have been moved to the outside pen if it hadn't been eating, drinking and caring for itself.   I brought it in the house, and prepared some scrambled egg with raw grated carrots in it, and got ready to force-feed the chick.  To my great surprise, when I put the bowl in front of the chick's face, it dived in and ate like it hadn't eaten in days!  As the chick ate until its crop was bulging, I had to re-think the "failure to thrive" theory.

There are 2 large feeders in the outside silkie brooder pen, so this chick shouldn't have had a problem accessing food, but obviously it wanted to eat.  A little more time spent observing the chicks in the outside pen, and it became apparent that I have some bully silkie chicks that were keeping some of the younger ones from the feeders.   A few more feeders added in different areas of the pen solved that problem.  The skinny chick is currently in the silkie building in an individual cage, eating all it wants and putting on weight.  He/she should be ready to return to the group pen in a few more days.

These two incidents show how important observation can be in keeping your silkies or any other chickens healthy and happy, and diagnosing illness before it can affect the entire flock.    Besides that, the time spent just observing your birds can be the best "stress buster" of your day!

 

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