We currently have Splash Silkies, and a Black Silkie Hen.
Thanks Julie and my buddy Josie!!! <3 ya!
We have our silkies running together in there very own pen.
I am working on our silkies to have fluffy butts, but not going to work so hard into them
as I had origanally planned. We have had silkies for many years and just HAVE to have them around!

At the bottom of this page there is a little bit "About Silkies"

Splash Silkie Hen
Sooo Cute!!

We found a little about the Silkie Chicken breed online to add to
this site some of it I have added with my own experince in mind.

SILKIE CHICKENS

Silkies are one of the oldest, most beautiful and unique breed of bantam chickens. They look much like animated powder puffs, as they scratch around in my yard. And upon seeing them, people always exclaim, “oh, they are so adorable!” And that they are. But Silkies also have a very interesting history.

SILKIE HISTORY:

Silkie bantam chickens are an ancient breed, originating from China and Japan. The great Venetian explorer, Marco Polo, upon his return from China, wrote about all the wonders he saw there in his “Book,” written in 1298-99. One of the wonders that he mentions were chickens that, “have hair like cats, are black, and lay the best of eggs.” He was writing about Silkies. In 1599, Aldrovandi Bologna wrote about a chicken in his book,

Ornithology, which he described as, “white as snow, with wool like sheep.” Because of their unusual feathers, it was even rumored back then that they may be a cross between a rabbit and a chicken, and they were even called “rabbit-fowl.” Suffice to say, that rumor was untrue. But that Silkies are an unusual, beautiful breed, is very true.

SILKIE VARIETIES:

Silkie bantam chickens are an affectionate, docile and trustful breed. They have dark blue or black skin, and feathers without the usual forms of webs. Because the feathers lack of adhesion of the barbs, they look like down or silky hair, giving the appearance of a rabbit or angora cat. Another feature that is beautiful and unusual on silkies are their turquoise blue ear lobes, and on their feet, they sport five toes. They also have mulberry colored faces, blue legs and skin, similar to game birds, an attractive rose colored comb, large dark eyes, and a beautiful, small round topknot on top of their heads. Silkies come in White, Black, Buff, Blue, Splash, Partridge, Grey. Bearded and non-bearded. Whites and black have been breed for show and are more devloped in their body types than the colored varieties, ususally having larger crests, shorter necks and smaller combs.

SILKIE HOUSEING AND CARE:

Since silkies don’t have usual feathers, they cannot fly at all, like some other chickens, so they are easily contained, and won’t venture very far if kept in the yard. And because of their docile nature, they make ideal pets for children in the country.

They need to be protected as they are very docile, with their crests and inability to fly as well as most chickens they are more susceptible to predators. I recommend houseing that will protect them from ground and flying preadators. Silkies don't seem to like high roosts or housing preferring to stay about 2 to 4 feet above ground at the maximum. Baby Silkie chicks are hardy for their size, but feeders and water bowels need to be adapted to accomodate their tiny size.

WHY KEEP SILKIES:

Silkies are great layers of fairly large sized bantam eggs, and will lay well into winter, when other breeds of chickens have quit. In fact, winters don’t bother Silkies much, because their fluffy down “coats,” keep them warm.

Silkies are quite affectionate towards their owner, and realize that we will not harm them. They will talk to you with their little, chicken clucks, and can be made so tame, that they will fly up into your lap if given the chance.

Silkie bantam chickens are the best sitters in the world. A Silkie mother will never abandon her eggs, and will be a protective guardian of her babies. In my yard, should a dog or cat venture too close to a mother hen with her chicks, it will soon run for safety, for a Silkie mother will fly at it fiercely, flapping her wings and screeching at the intruder, menacingly!

Silkies are a long-lived chicken, and stay beautiful, even when older.

In the past, Silkies were used to hatch out game birds, because of their wonderful sitting and mothering abilities. But since the use of incubators became popular, they have lost their status as the best sitters. These days, they’re mostly raised for show, and you will often find them in petting zoos, where their sweet, docile nature, and fluffy covering, delight children of all ages.

I personally still use my silkies to incubate anytime I can, Silkies great functionality are their ability to sit, and sit they will. Most of our domestic breeds of poultry have had all their mothering skills breed out of them in the process of improving meat or egg production. Anyone who has raised chicks and had to deal with turing eggs, worring about lights and temperature of the incubator and brooder knows this is a lot of work and a mother chicken does a better job anyway. Silkies are tremendous sitters and, wonderful mothers. Silkies make good pet birds for kids. It is hard to get egg production out of them not because they dont lay, but they go broody (want to sit on eggs) so often interrupting their laying. If they don't have eggs, any round rock will do, no rock, they will sit on empty nests! Mothers will steal any other hen's chicks she can. I have seen Silkie mothers with so many chicks they will raise mom right off the ground. Silkie hens will also share mothering with a batch of chicks.

AVILABILTIY:

Keep an eye on my "Critter Availability" page.

Info below retrieved from
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/ 

Silkie Bantam

Varieties:

• Black
• Blue
• Partridge
• Buff
• White
• Gray
• all above varieties also are either bearded or non-bearded.

Origin: China, found there by Marco Polo in 1298.

 American Status: Ranks in first 15 breeds in popularity.

 The Silkie bantam is the only breed of bantams with black pigmented skin. The feathers are without the usual forms of webs, that is, there is a lack of adhesion of the barbs to one another which gives the appearance of down or silky hair, hence the name silken or Silkie. Another distinguishing feature is turquoise blue ear lobes.

 Shape of male

 Comb: Walnut -- set firmly and evenly on head, almost circular in shape, preferably broader than longer, with a number of small prominences over it, a slight indentation or furrow, transversely across the middle, rising at a point just forward of the nostrils and extending backwards to a point parallel with front of eyes.

 Crest: Medium size, soft and full, as upright as the comb will permit having a few silky feathers streaming gracefully backwards from lower and back part of crest.

 Beak: Short, broad at base, well curved.

 Face: Fine in texture, free from wrinkles or folds. Eyes: Large, bright, prominent.

 Wattles: Non-Bearded -- medium size, concave, nearly round, fine in texture, free from wrinkles or folds. Bearded -- very small, almost concealed by beard.

 Ear Lobes: Non-bearded -- small, oval, fine in texture, free from wrinkles or folds. Bearded -- very small, almost entirely concealed by muffs.

 Head: Small, short, carried so that a line drawn parallel with the tip of the tail will bisect the comb.

 Beard & Muffs: Bearded Varieties -- composed of feathers turned horizontally backwards, from both sides of the beak, from the center, vertically downwards, the whole forming a collar of three ovals in a triangular group, giving a muffed effect.

 Neck: Short, full, well proportioned, gracefully arched.

 Hackle: Abundant, flowing well down over back and shoulders.

 Back: Short, broad from shoulders to saddle, quite rounded its entire length, the whole forming a U-shaped curve from neck to tail.

 Saddle: Rising from back at base of cape, very broad and round, plumage profuse and long, lower saddle feathers flowing over tips of wings and mingling with fluff.

 Tail: Main Tail -- short, very shredded at ends, well spread at base, filled underneath with an abundance of soft feathers which are overlapped by converts and lesser sickles, the whole forming a duplex curve with back and saddle. Sickles, lesser sickles and converts -- abundant, soft, well curved, without hard quills, concealing main tail feathers.

 Wings: Medium size, closely folded, carried well back and nearly horizontal, well above lower thighs, ending short of stern. Shoulder & Fronts -- concealed by hackle and breast feathers. Bows and coverts -- very well rounded. Primaries -- medium length, well shredded, concealed by secondaries. Secondaries -- medium length, well shredded, tapering convexly to stern, tips concealed by saddle feathers.

 Breast: Carried well forward, extremely full, well rounded, great breadth and depth.

 Body and Stern: Body -- medium length, broad, deep, well rounded from breast to abdomen and tail, depending more on fullness or fluffiness and length of feather than on muscular development. Stern -- very full, soft and silky feathering.

 Legs and Toes: Legs -- short, stout, set well apart, straight when seen from front. Lower Thighs -- short, stout at top, tapering to hocks, abundantly feathered. Hocks -- covered with soft and silky feathers curving inwards about the hocks. Shanks -- rather short, stout in bone, well feathered on outer sides with silky plumage, the upper part growing out from under thigh plumage and continuing into foot feathering. Spurs -- medium size and length, set just above the fifth toe. Toes -- five, the three front straight, well and evenly spread; the hind toe double, the normal toe in natural position and the extra toe placed above, starting from close to the other toe, but well formed, longer than the other toes and turning upwards and backwards; the outer and middle toes well feathered.

 Appearance: Active, bold, silky and fluffy.

 Shape of female

 Comb: Walnut -- very small, well formed, set firmly and evenly on head, almost circular in shape, preferably broader than long, with a number of small prominences over it, a slight indentation or furrow, transversely across the middle, rising at a point just forward of the nostrils and extending backwards to a point parallel with the front of the eyes.

 Crest: Medium size, soft and full, compact, globular and well balanced.

 Beak: Short, broad at base, well curved.

 Face: Fine in texture, free from wrinkles or folds. Eyes: Large, bright, prominent.

 Wattles: Non-Bearded -- small, concave, forming a half circle, fine texture, free from wrinkles or folds. Bearded -- very small to non-existent, almost concealed by beard.

 Ear Lobes: Non-bearded --very small, oval, fine in texture, free from wrinkles or folds. Bearded -- very small, almost entirely concealed by muffs.

 Head: Small, short, carried so that a line drawn parallel with the tip of the tail will be beneath the wattles.

 Beard, Muffs, Neck and Hackle: Same as male.

 Back: Short, broad from shoulders to cushion, quite rounded its entire length, the whole forming a U-shaped curve from neck to tail.

 Cushion: Rising from back at base of cape, very broad and round; plumage, abundant.

 Tail: Main Tail -- short, very shredded at ends, well spread at base, filled underneath with an abundance of soft feathers which are overlapped by cushion and converts, the whole forming a duplex curve with back and cushion.

 Wings, Breast, Body and Stern: Same as male. Legs and Toes: Same as male except no spur.

 Appearance: Active, sedate, silky and fluffy.