Chicken Breed Focus - Silkie

[sumi]

The Silkie breed was developed in the southeast Asian countries or China. It's named for its atypically fluffy plumage, which is said to feel like silk. The breed has several other unusual qualities, such as black skin and bones, blue earlobes, and five toes on each foot, whereas most other chickens only have four. They are often exhibited in poultry shows and come in various colors. It was valued as a medicinal food item in Asia, because of its black skin and bones, and was thought to be particularly good to reinforce body immunity and protect from emaciation and feebleness. It also is reported to treat diabetes, anemia, female reproductive functioning and postpartum disorders. Marco Polo gave the first accounts of Silkie chickens in the late 13th century. As trade route between East and West were established, the Silkie was brought to Europe. Records have shown that in the Netherlands, they were sold as the product of crossing a rabbit and a chicken!

Nowadays the breed is very popular for the purpose of pet chickens as well as exhibition. They are not good layers, averaging 3 eggs per week, but are known and valued for their exceptional broodiness and are often used for hatching eggs from other breeds. They are also considered very good pet chickens, especially for children and are known for their friendliness and docile temperaments.

The breed was officially recognized in North America by acceptance into the Standard of Perfection in the first year of publication which was 1874.

Details:

Detail Value
Breed Purpose Ornamental
Comb Walnut
Broodiness Frequent
Climate Tolerance All Climates
Egg Productivity Medium
Egg Size Small
Egg Color Light Brown
Breed Temperament Friendly,Easily handled,Calm,Bears confinement well,Quiet,Docile
Breed Colors/Varieties Grey, Blue, Splash, Partridge, Buff, Black, White are the standard colors with many off standard & derivative colors in existance today.


Pic by @RooptyDoo


Pic by @RooptyDoo


Pic by @Brody's Broodello


Pic by @Sustained


Pic by @CrazyChookLady5

BYC Breed reviews:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/silkie

Breed Discussion Threads:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/297632/silkie-thread/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/579215/silkie-sexing/0_30
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/690632/silkie-breeding-genetics-showing/0_30


Do you own Silkies? Are you a Silkie breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

We have a bunch of other awesome breed-focus threads for you to enjoy. You can see all of them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-project.975504/

 

[aplynn]

Love my little silkies they are so funny to watch play we have 7 total right now but I need to re-home 4 because they are roo's

. I have them for the main purpose of hatching babies for my layer flock so really just having the 3 females would be fine for us. I just feel bad for the roo's. hopefully they will find a home.

 

[Jujubara]

We own two, Fifi and Tetley. They are so cute and fun to watch. Recently, our Tetley laid her first egg, at 5 1/2 months. She lays every other day since.
Tetley:

Fifi:

Silkie eggs:

 

[PrairieChickens]

I got this breed because of their reputation for being extremely docile and friendly, and while none of my silkies have demonstrated that quality so far, I'm hopeful for future generations.

I've actually got the hair-brained idea to try to produce white-crested-black silkies by crossing them with one of my Polish. I don't know if it will work, but I'm going to give it a shot.

 

[silkielove83]

I have 2 hens and 1 rooster. They have so much personality and i just love them. One hen is a broady girl while the other gets over it in a day or 2. I live in suburbs of a small city in australia and im not suppose to he the rooster unless im on acreage but he has a no crow collar that really quietens him down and my neighbours are great

 

[blkjak]

My silkies are my favorite. I have at the moment 30. 13 of these are August chicks. 6 are June chicks( 3 roos I think). Some will be going to auction in the spring.
One of the best things about silkies is you never know what color the chicks will be. I have a calico roo over white, black, blue and partridge hens. Chicks have been white, black with silver leakage, calico, gray, gray partridge, partridge and even red partridge. So exciting when they hatch.

 

[silkiecuddles]

Silkies are so fun and adorable. I currently don't own any, as I get rid of my six a couple weeks ago. But I'm hoping to get some better quality ones in the near future.

The ones I had were so docile and sweet, as most silkies are. Tho, there is the occasional rebellious one

 

[JanellieFree]

We just LOVE our Silkie! We have a very small flock of 10 chickens. There are 6 different breeds. We only have one silkie. At about 4 months or so, ours had a seisure... We weren't sure what had happened and found out that it was very common for the breed... after spending a night in the house everything seemed just fine and our Silkie re-joined the flock the next day. We weren't sure if this would affect egg-production and were curious as to what the eggs would look like... I guess we will never find out because our Silkie turned out to be a boy! We were expecting an all-hen flock, but if someone had to be a rooster, we are so happy it was the Silkie! His name is Sam LOL! He brings us so much joy! We love to watch him run and jump around! Not sure if he can't see very well or if he was somehow affected by the seizure, but he is the sweetest one of them all! He has the most amazing personality!! He follows us around and eats out of your hand and seems to know his name! he doesn't mind when you pet him and is very good about keeping the girls close to the coop! He has recently been working on his crowing and it's the most adoreable thing we have ever heard! Some of the more expierenced chicken keepers that have never had silkies are telling us that he will get better at his crowing, but I think it's as good as it gets! Which is fine by us! It's not piercingly loud and it's not perfect, but it's perfect for us! Sam is the best! <3

 

[sharingchickens]

I got my first three silkies at TSC of all places! Simply pet quality, but just loved them! All three were taken be a hawk the following fall and I became somewhat preoccupied with getting more. I do have more now, and have been hatching eggs from my own silkies. Once again, pet quality but that is all I am interested in. They have such personality and love to be held and greeted by name. I will never be without a silkie!

 

[layne517]

Two of my 14 hens are silkies. They are my favorite (shhhh)...My black one is the sweetest thing ever! I wish I could keep her in the house as a pet, lol. (the hubs would have a stroke). I love their fluffiness!