#leghorns actually need more thiamine then other breeds

[homeofhousechickens]

What makes a chicken more or less difficult to raise?

The same reason a golden retriever is less difficult to raise then a husky. Some animal breeds just have different care requirements.

For example Leghorns are a VERY easy chicken breed to raise.

Leghorns are a fast feathering breed, that means chicks are able to thermoregulate and get off heat faster then other breeds.

They do not really need any special chick starter or supplements to raise them. Leghorns are not really prone to any health issues when they are young.

When leghorns are adults they are nonbroody and very productive so they lay lots of eggs that are easy to collect and hatch.

Leghorns are a bit skittish by nature which means they tend to be great at avoiding predators and surviving predator attacks.

Leghorns also have some of the best feed conversion, this means they need to eat less to produce more then other chickens, so feeding them isnt to expensive.

All of the above would make a leghorn quite easy to raise and even breed. They do have some health issues that typically happen to them later in life but they are one of the most popular egg laying chickens for a reason.

Silkies are more so an intermediate breed. I dislike that they are considered beginner friendly for many reasons.

Silkies need to be on a good diet with good thiamine levels as they are prone to deficiency which can lead to a host of problems but most commonly wry neck that ends up very hard to reverse and treat.

Since silkies are fibromelanistic that means their immune system sucks for the first few months. In terms of building their immune system they will always be behind nonfibro birds of the same age due to the mechanics of fibromelanism. This makes them very vurnerable to cocciodosis outbreaks that wluld even bother your other birds when they are young.

Silkies have the hookless/silked gene this means they cannot thermoregulate as well as a normal feathered birds. That means they are more sensitive to hot and cold temperatures. The chicks will sometimes need heat longer due to that as well.

Due to their crest and sometimes beard some silkies become essentially blinded by their feathers making them vurnerable to flock bullying, predation, and starvation. Yep starvation and malnutrition is a COMMON problem with silkies because they cannot see. This means adults can still be prone to wry neck and other issues caused by nutritional deficiencies.

Their fluffy appearance can hide issues very well. If their owner is not picking them up often its very easy to miss things like malnutrition and mites.

Due to all of the above Silkies would be a harder breed to raise then leghorns in my example.