While most often thought of as barnyard birds, chickens are found in urban, suburban, and rural environments across the country – and for good reasons! Chickens produce fresh eggs for their owners to enjoy themselves or sell, provide a natural form of pest control, and make fun, inexpensive, and easy to care for pets. There are many varieties of chickens, and one of the most unique, beautiful, and friendly is the silkie chicken. It is because of these qualities that silkie chickens are an excellent choice for novice and seasoned chicken owners alike. Additionally, silkie chickens can be entered into poultry shows, which can become a fun hobby for the family to enjoy together.
The silkie (sometimes spelled silky) chicken is an old, unique breed of poultry aptly named for its fluffy plumage that is said to feel like silk. in addition to its feathers allowing the silkie chicken to stand out from other breeds, silkies are also unique because of their dark blue flesh and bones, blue earlobes, and five (as opposed to four) toes on each foot. Originating in Southeast Asia, most likely in China, sometime before the 1200s, the first written record of silkie chickens comes from Marco Polo, who wrote of chickens with fur-like feathers in the logs from his Asian travels in the 13 century. silkies made their way west via the silk route and were officially accepted into the North American standard of perfection in 1874. Today, silkie chickens come in bearded and non-beaded varieties and can be seen in poultry shows across the United States.
The American Bantam Association accepts six standard colors of Silkies for showing: black, blue, buff, white, partridge, splash, and gray. However, there are also some non-standard, yet, popular colors. These popular non-standard colors are red, lavender, porcelain, and cuckoo.
SILKIE CHICKENS PROVIDE MANY BENEFITS TO THEIR OWNERS
Besides entertainment and companionship, silkies can provide their owners with tangible benefits, which makes keeping silkies as pets all the more rewarding. Silkies can be entered into poultry shows, which can become a fun pastime to get involved in, and they also provide a natural form of pest control as they gobble up any insects they find. And probably the largest benefit, silkies provide their owners with fresh eggs to eat themselves or sell.
Silkies are excellent layers of relatively large-sized bantam eggs, and unlike most other breeds, silkies will continue laying eggs throughout the winter because their fluffy feathers keep them warm and content. In addition to being great egg layers, silkies are known for being the broodiest of all chicken breeds and are often used to incubate and raise the offspring of other poultry.
