Frequently asked questions & Sales guide

I get a lot of questions about care & breeding pens. We are NOT fancy! I have a large hand-built run that houses majority of our silkies. The nice thing about silkies is that due to their barbless feathers, they can’t fly like other breeds making the utilization of x pens convenient in breeding pens on a budget. We have prefab coops that get winterized every winter but they are expanded out by x pens inside of the larger run (A large, covered, dog run could also suffice). This gives everyone more room and space to flap their wings during the day. Electricity is also ran out to these coops so each of them get water that does not freeze over winter cutting down on winter care and so everyone has water at all times. Do keep in mind, satins can and do still fly so that is something to also watch out for but for silkie feathered, expanded x pens work amazing. For our Large Fowl, we have a line up of sizeable winterized white coops that we keep our different breeds in. They are not as neat as the silkie breeding pens but they work for us and that is what matters! 

When it comes to care, it varies depending on the breed. I always encourage getting your birds on nipples if you can! it helps keep their water cleaner and helps with preventing frozen beards/wattles during winter. I do always put show birds on nipples also to prevent head dunking as food can easily cling to that.
For feed, I give everything Kalmbach Flock Maker from chick to laying hen. I swear by this feed and I have noticed they too, like it as well. Although I do also give them scratch as a treat especially over winter times and before a show I will put them on a scratch to help with poop To it won’t cling to the feathers as much.
During times of stress, I do like to mix in poultry cell in their waterers like during heat waves for example. It really helps and I also give them it while conditioning for shows. Another time I will give poultry cell is before a bird ships out or if I just brought a bird(s) home from the post office, they also will get poultry cell in their waterers. 

We are a HUGE fan of two brands of incubator. The chick cozy, and the maticoopx. Summer of 2024, I was getting a bit annoyed with other brands so I wanted to try out these two new types. Let me tell you, I’m impressed. Hatch rates are awesome, and the maticoopx has an automatic watering system?? How cool is that? The cozy does have a water drawer that pulls out which is a unique feature and a handle at the top so it’s easier to get chicks/eggshells out. I love the cozy for the simplicity of cleaning after lockdown so I use them as my dedicated lockdown incubators. The cozy holds 25 eggs but great especially for those that do smaller hatches. I love the water bottle on the maticoopx for the first 18 days  so I tend to stagger hatch mine and just put them in cozys after they go into lockdown then just load it back up. Should I get a cabinet? Maybe, but I’m like why fix what’s not broken? Moral of the story is, you don’t need some huge expensive incubator to be a successful breeder. You absolutely can be small scale like me and just use the table tops. They’re inexpensive and I great fantastic hatch rates out of them!
Ok, next question. So for humidity I honestly don’t do anything special. For days 0-18 I try to keep it at 45-55% then raise it to 60-65% during lockdown for all of my breeds and so far it’s proven to work. I almost always get 90% hatches or higher so it is what works for me. Shipped eggs however, sometimes I will not turn them until days 10 depending on how jostled they look after they arrive always placing them pointy side down. Also please note- just because a shipped egg doesn’t develop, doesn’t mean it wasn’t fertilized. Shipping as a whole can be very traumatic on the future embryos. I myself have had 0 develop and 100% develop. There is just so many variables that go into shipped eggs. After you get home please place them in the incubator gently (or leave in carton for a day if they were shipped) Please refer to terms and conditions to future see egg policy. If you’re picking up locally, they will be wrapped in paper towel if the eggs are not snug in the carton to help prevent jostling during the car ride. Please keep me updated with how your babies turn out! I love to see them thrive and grow up! 

Shipping: (disregard if locally picked up) 

Yay! The post office called & now you have picked up your new family member(s). Please start your new addition(s) on vitamins & electrolytes, keeping stress to a minimum in a clean new quarantine environment away from your existing birds for at least 30 days. During this time, I recommend caring for your existing flock prior to caring for your new birds to keep any exposure to a minimum while they decompress from shipping. I recommend feeding a higher protein during this time as well which can include things like scrambled eggs or wet cat food. If you got young chicks, I would recommend giving a preventative dose or corid or endocox to prevent an outbreak of coccidiosis due to stress of moving & shipping. If any birds arrive deceased PLEASE let me know within 24 hours and I will refund you for the cost of the bird(s) or replace them for you if you like. I cannot replace/refund any deceased birds after 24 hours as unfortunately it is no longer in my control. Please see terms and conditions to see more. 

For showing I keep my breeds completely off dirt and “conditioning starts the second they’re out of the shell.” For silkies, I give lots of DEEP bedding spot cleaning poop so it doesn’t cling to feathers. Pine shavings, hemp, or similar work great. I also put them on nipples to prevent head dunking which can get food stuck in beards or crests if the feathers are not completely dry. I would avoid overly wet (such as mash) or staining food/treats. I do recommend giving poultry cell regularly in their water while conditioning. 

For Phoenix i recommend giving LOTS of space to keep the tails nice on males. Free ranging helps, clean bedding and no access to mud which will help prevent muddy tails. 

For owlbeards, relatively similar to Phoenix but they don’t “need” as much room. Limit access to mud/dirt and I recommend nipple waterers for the same reason as silkies and no overly wet or staining foods. 

The Silkie Standard of perfection. Know your breed, know your disqualifications. I highly recommend investing in a copy of the American Poultry Association or the American Bantam Association's Standard of Perfection. The information in either book is SO valuable. 

At Poultry Paradie Rare Breeds & Bantams, we believe in treating our birds with respect and compassion. We believe that happy and healthy birds produce the best offspring that THRIVE!