Silkie Chicken

     The Silkie is a breed of Chickens that have been mentioned by authorities for several hundred years. Its origins are still disputed, but some people think they originated in India, while others favor China and Japan to be the points of origin. The Silkie’s persistent broodiness is a breed characteristic, and either pure or crossed, the breed provides reliable broody hens for the eggs of other large fowls or bantams.

     Silkies are walnut-combed, five-toed and feathered-legged birds. They are a light-weight chicken breed with a broad, stout looking body, due to the fact it’s covered with fine fluffy feathers. Silkies make wonderful mothers too, despite being rather poor layers of cream or tinted eggs (100 eggs per year max).

     The Silkie is a calm, friendly, trusting and rather lively bird which is unable to fly, and does almost no damage to its housing place. They can be easily tamed to be real pets, which makes them especially suitable for children. Silkies are available in a lot of color-varieties that include; black, blue, gold, white, partridge, grey, cuckoo, red and buff. They appear in two distinct varieties too; Bearded and Non-bearded. Bearded Silkies differ in having an extra muff of feathers under the beak area that covers their blue earlobes. Also, they are one of the few chicken breeds that have black skin, bones and grayish-black meat. A bantam version is also available for the Silkie chicken breed that’s more popular than the large fowl.