ICED SILKIE

Oh the cute little Silkie chicken!  An eternal ball of fluff.

The feathers of a Silkie stay like downy fluff, soft and fuzzy because they don't have the barbs of regular chicken feathers.  Their feathers are more of a "silk-like" fur; they are not waterproof!  

Contrary to what you'll read of Silkies, my little girl, Daizee, loves being outside in all kinds of weather and she's a feisty little critter.  She'll stand out in a soft rain for hours, pecking at the ground, pulling up worms, getting soaked to the bone.  She'll venture out, and all about in the snow.  But, this year she has experienced a new and unwelcome surprise: a frozen hairdo!

The past couple days have been in the single digits with windchills below zero.  She absolutely doesn't care.  She's one of the first out of the coop and the last to go in.  I think it's because she's not a confined chicken - she's used to being outside and roaming wherever she chooses.  She's smart enough to stay out of the wind though, under the coop.

Today has been sunshiny with zero wind - yay!  However, it's been in the single digits for most of the day.  Daizee must have been a little overzealous while drinking and got her face too far into her water trough.  I went outside this afternoon to see how everyone was enjoying the day, and found Daizee shaking her head.  I finally caught her and found the tips of her head feathers iced over and hanging heavy.  LOL ~ poor little funny girl.

She's doing just fine.  The ice wasn't even all the way to her head - just the first bit of her feathers, enough to make it annoying.  So, I brought her in the house to thaw out and dry off before she goes back outside.  

This should be the last of the super crappy weather.  We're looking ahead to 50°F on Friday!