[karlooben]

today i want to one of my horse feed merchants an i saw thier 2 silkies wandering around the yard and i instantly fell in love with them they are so beatiful but could i keep them in a 10 m - 6 m  run with my 14 ex batts an would they be ok to live in the same house .

[raeburg]

My experience was not good.  My 8 ex-batts constantly terrorised the one silkie I had been given.  I took her out after a few days as I felt they would tear her limb from limb when they caught her.  But in their defence they had just arrived and were still sorting out a pecking order, so perhaps if yours are settled they my accept incomers.  With hindsight I would not put a single new hen in with a group of others.

[Foxy]

I had difficulty with exbats and cochins -my cochins have very fluffy feet which the exbats pecked to the point of causing bleeding and had to separate. It was awful to watch and that was despite having a huge run area so I would be very careful.

[Lost in France]

I let a friend have a couple of my silkies but, as she was getting some of the ginger hens like the ex-bats, I suggested she let the silkies have a couple of weeks to settle in before getting the ginger hens. When the gingers arrived they immediately began terrorising the silkies, :evil:  targeting their feathered feet most. They never sorted it out, one died   and the other one came back to live with us   as it was spending its time cowering in the henhouse.

I'm not sure you could mix them as your ex-bats will already "own" the territory so it could be a long sad battle for pecking order. Maybe older large birds might fare better but those fluffy feet are just such a target!

Good luck,  
Judi

[karlooben]

thanks for letting me know guys ,., maybe its better if i leave it then. i would not want to risk anything bad happening to any of my girls .

although i think i need to extend the run with the councils full permisson as i cant keep up for demand of eggs so may just end up getting a few more ex batts.