Silkie Chickens
Gold
Gold Female
White Female
History
The origin of the Silkie hen is uncertain although they have been around for several hundred years. It is thought that they originated in India, China or Japan and they arrived in Europe around 200 years ago where they were sold as crosses between rabbits and chickens! They are a lightweight chicken with a broad, stout looking body which is covered in fine fluffy feathers. They have short, rather ragged looking tails and the head is short and neat with an upright and full crest. The beak is short and broad, the face smooth and the eyes black and bright. The comb is circular and described as a mulberry comb and the wattles are concave, semi circular and not particularly long. The legs are purplish blue in colour and they have a fifth toe.
Behaviour
Silkies do tend towards broodiness and make wonderful mothers despite being rather poor layers. They are calm, friendly, trusting and rather lively birds which are unable to fly so can be kept with very low fencing and they also do very little damage to the garden. They begin laying around Christmas when the hen will happily sit on a clutch of eggs and will still go broody even if her eggs are removed! Silkies are frequently used as foster mothers for other hen\'s eggs. They stop laying altogether during the summer months. They don\'t have waterproof feathers so they need to be kept in dry conditions but require little room so can be kept in smaller runs. They are rather susceptible to scaly leg but are robust little chickens and can withstand the cold very well. The black skinned and black boned silkie is considered a delicacy in China where they believe that the ground up bones have special healing properties. They have a lifespan of around 9 years and can be tamed and considered a real pet which makes them especially suitable for children.
Varieties
Black, blue, gold, white, partridge, triple laced partridge, triple laced silver partridge, grey, cuckoo, red and buff.
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Silkies For Sale
Please Note: All Chickens listed here are for collection only. They cannot be delivered by the Seller or by Omlet. Once you have purchased the Chickens you will be emailed the Seller's contact address details.
Collection Only
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Collection Only
No Feedback!
Collection Only
No Feedback!
Collection Only
Latest Reviews For Silkies (3 of 57)
- 5 Star: (55)
- 4 Star: (2)
- 3 Star: (0)
- 2 Star: (0)
- 1 Star: (0)
Beautiful and friendly.
- Katherine, 11 May 2013
This is the most beautiful breed of chicken in the world ! It is not the most productive egg-layer in the world , but if you are not too bothered about having mountains of eggs it is totally worth it.? They do not dig up your garden(no Omlet fencing necessary!)
Fun chickens to raise
- Miriam, 25 April 2013
I'm proud to say my parents were ahead of the urban chicken farming trend Salt Lake City. We kept a flock of white silkies and they were delightful to raise. We kids had a hand in all aspects of raising them-- gathering eggs, cleaning the coop, giving them food and water, and even butchering them when we got too many roosters in a brood. We let them run free-range in the yard & garden. They helped control the garden pests and weeds. I think we only had to protect the peas and lettuces from them. They seemed quite docile-- the rooster was appropriately protective but not aggressive. Best eggs & chicken meat I've ever had when they get to be free-range, though they are bantams & thus, not particularly meaty. Their skins are a shocking shade of dark purple! (but my parents always skinned them before cooking them)
Cute but not at all hardy...
- Fern, 06 April 2013
I got a flock of Silkies almost a year ago now and I have already lost 3. They are so attention seeking, friendly and adorable yet are very prone to diseases. Their egg production is very low as only a couple of them actually lay and some go broody for very long periods of time. They are just so cute to be around but are definitely not a hardy breed. Don't be fooled by the cuteness!
I love my silkies!
- Dorothy, 23 March 2013
I have four silkies (two small black and two big partridge). They are lovely pets, they chat to me when I am in the garden, they run to the back door if they think I will open it, they cause no damage to the garden and they cannot fly. They are frightened of everything (they hide behind my elderly rabbit when they see a cat). They live very happily, running around the garden with my rabbit (but can be bad tempered when they are broody). Egg laying is very hit and miss - they lay for a few weeks, then get broody for weeks and it takes ages for them to get back to laying. Certainly, four chickens cannot provide enough eggs for two of us. However, the eggs are incredibly rich and creamy in comparison to other free ranging chickens.
- Peyton, 27 February 2013
Howdy! I have had at least 10 and they are so cute and friendly! they do good around children,and the roosters are vary calm and laid back. They don't lay eggs regularly like some other breeds,they only lay eggs when they want to. I have never had any eggs yet(being that my dog got them all before they started to lay). I love them to pieces...well maybe not that well considering that i love my horses much much more,. I do want to start showing them in 4-H soon. I think they are good starter chickens if ya don't want eggs that much.
Read all 57 reviews for Silkies
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