Silkie chickens, why you should raise this adorable breed!

Today I'd like to discuss the silkie chicken and why you should raise them. I started raising silkies about 8 years ago. I think they are the darn cutest thing ever that look like fluffy muppets, and I just adore the dozen or so I always have. I've always raised bearded silkies and I think that extra fluff under their beaks just adds to their adorableness!

How silkies are different than regular chickens

I started raising silkie chickens because I thought they were super cute. With their fluffy feathers, they almost resemble rabbits more than chickens. They are very soft and have the sweetest temperament of any chicken I've raised. 

Silkies also won the hearts of all the children that visited, letting themselves be carried around and petted for hours...and you'll want to pet them when you feel how soft their unique feathers are!

Though they are small in stature, silkies are big on personality! My silkies especially are total characters and are actually pretty smart. A silkie roo was the first chicken I trained to walk on a leash and I often took him to events to teach people about raising backyard chickens for eggs. 

Silkie Chickens

• The earliest mention of silkies is in the writings of Marco Polo from his travels to Asia during the 13th century.
• Because of their unique feathers, silkies can not fly at all.
• Silkie chickens have a mild temperament and especially good pets for children. 
• They are only available as a bantam in the United States, but other countries do have standard size silkies.

What makes Silkie chickens so fluffy?

• Silkie feathers lack barbicles which are the tiny hooks that keep feathers attached to each other, so they are not smooth but rather fluffy in appearance. 
• Silkies have crests which is just a way to say 'big poof of feathers on the head'.
• They come in both bearded and non bearded varieties.
• Silkies have bluish colored earlobes, which have an iridescent sheen to them.
• They have a mulberry colored walnut comb and very small or no wattles.
• Silkies have heavily feathered legs and feet.
• They have 5 toes on each foot, with the extra toe coming out below the 'thumb' area.
• Silkies have black colored skin and the meat of a silkie chicken is also black. 
• In the American Standard of Perfection, the weight of a hen is 32 oz and the rooster is 36oz. Unlike many breeds, the silkie standard varies in other countries.
• Silkies are available in many recognized colors including: blue, black, grey, white, partridge and buff and several newer colors: cuckoo, paint, lavender, red, splash and more.

Silkie hens: eggs and hatching chicks

• Silkie hens lay a small cream colored egg. They are very broody, often hatching several clutches of chicks a year. 
• A hen will only produce about 100 eggs a year because  of their tendency to go broody.
• Silkies are very devoted mothers. They will often raise other hens chicks, accepting them days or weeks after hatch. 
• Silkies start laying eggs at roughly 7 months old. Though it's not uncommon for them not to lay for 9 months. 

Are all silkies friendly?

Though silkies are known for their sweet temperament, the roosters are fiercely protective of the hens especially from any threat. Whether it be a bear (rest in peace Rusty roo) or my ankles, silkie roosters will do their best to defend themselves and their ladies against anything that may perceive as a threat. 

They are also quite vocal, but thankfully don't sound as much like a squeaky toy as other bantam breeds!

Related reading: Best chicken breeds for beginners.

Can you eat silkie chicken meat?

Adding to the uniqueness of silkie chickens, their meat is considered a gourmet food in certain countries. Silkie chicken meat has been eaten as a soup for it's believed medicinal qualities since the 7th century. It looks more like dark meat than they typical white meat we're used to from meat breed chickens, which can take some getting used to. 

Many recipes are available for it, often calling it black chicken soup in reference to its colored meat. I've never tried it, but if you have I'm very interested in hearing your opinion!

Are all Silkie chickens bantam?

Here in the US only the bantam Silkie is available, but in other countries a much larger, standard sized Silkie is more common. In fact, they are closer in size to a large breed leghorn than a bantam.

Interestingly enough, both the British and Australian poultry standards call for their bantam silkie to be even smaller than here in the US. Around a full pound smaller in fact! So other countries have smaller and larger versions of the silkies. 

Hey, no fair! I want all the sizes too! lol

What do you think? Are silkie chickens too cute for words or just plain weird looking?

Related reading: Health problems when raising silkie chickens.

~L

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