Silkie

Silkies are a favorite breed of many, including me. They’re just downright adorable, and there truly isn’t another breed like them. Their feathers feel like fur to the touch and they can be quite cuddly— for a chicken, at least.

I would say their friendly and docile demeanor is most likely because these birds aren’t very smart. I would even go as far to say they’re dumb, as much as I dislike calling an animal breed dumb. Silkies just genuinely don’t seem that bright and out of the hundreds of chickens I own, are the only ones to always find a way to get themselves into trouble on a consistent basis. They do best in smaller runs with similarly sized chickens.

I have 7 silkies, and all of them make me smile. They are so full of unique personalities. They are very friendly, and some are very cuddly too! If the silkie is not cuddly, they are still very docile.
Some people say they have 0 predator-awareness, but my silkies are very cautious and my roosters are very alert and protective.
They make very good mothers and broody hens- they will hatch anything they set their little minds to!
They aren't the best for eggs, since they generally take long breaks from egg laying. but silkies are the best pets!

I absolutely love this breed! I originally had 2 silkies, but unfortunately Boba did not survive a predator attack. I still have a white silkie named Mochi though, and she’s so sweet! She doesn’t actually go broody to often, but she’s been broody for 2 months now.
I recommend these for people who don’t care too much about eggs, and are beginners or children.
The attached pictures are of Mochi.

I love my silkies, but from my experience unless you buy a chicken that has been hugged since they were little they will not want to be hugged. They have hatched chicks for me and they’ve been incredible mothers. If you don’t want to hatch chicks, and don’t want broody chickens, I’d probably try and avoid this breed as they get broody more often. If your okay with that then these cute, fluffy, beautiful things, are great for children, or people who want a ”calm” breed of chicken.

Good sweet little chickens

Loved silkies and want to get some!

I have a sweet full-sized silkie hen who has only ever bought joy to me!
I have heard many people say that they get sick very easily however my silkie hen is a free-range bird who has never gotten sick.

I love my silkies, they are in my top three favorite breeds. Mine are actually very good layers so far, each of my three pullets average about 5 eggs a week, and they are very new layers too! They started in the middle of winter 2019, so I don't know how they do in spring and summer yet.

Mine are very mellow and go-with-the-flow, even though I haven't worked with them much at all.

My silkie roosters give the alarms all the time, even for little songbirds that fly overhead. I have only heard my game bantam rooster give the alarm a couple of times, while my silkies give it several times per hour.

I got silkies to raise chicks for me, though they haven't done it yet because I haven't let them. No broodies yet, but hopefully there will be soon!

I think everybody should get silkies, they are a great breed!

View attachment 1968686 View attachment 1968690 Love my Silkies. They are wonderful mothers and all my Roos that I have had and do have are the sweetest. They hatch almost all my chicks. So glad that they are part of my flock .

i love these birds but they are prone to diseases, i do keep mine in a clean environment though, thankfully mine haven't been super sick yet but i know peoples who have, great pet and amazing mother, wouldn't recommend to a new chicken keeper but if your more experienced with chickens go for it you won't be disappointed.

I love these birds so much! They are so sweet and gentle, and are great for kids! I love their cute and fluffy appearance! The only problem is that silkies are dumb and can get into trouble some times...

They did great for their first winter up in the north, (-35C) in a semi insulated coop, they are quiet and dont cause issues within the flock, people say they are friendly but my two hens and roo are they complete opposite. They never leave eachothers side, they dont ''hangout'' with other breeds of chickens i have.

I currently have 3 silkies, and plan on getting 5 more in September I have had them before and I have always loved the look and personality of them. They are very nice and easygoing, but they can be bullied by others since they are smaller. They do mature a little slower than other chickens as well and don’t lay as much as other breeds. Also the pullets/hens tend to go broody a lot. All the roosters I have that are silkies are my sweetest ones.

Silkies would make wonderful pets especially if you have kids! They are adorable fluffy chickens and no kid could resist holding them! If you raise them properly with human interaction daily they are very friendly and love attention! If you're wanting a chicken for its look then a silkie would be the way to go! They only lay about 100 eggs annually and there eggs are a bit smaller than the typical egg. They go broody quite often so they can make a messy nesting box and not lay for quite some time. I wouldn't recommend a silkie chicken if you want a laying hen or meat bird. I've had silkies for 5 years now hatching raising and selling some of them. They are fantastic birds for pets but they don't give me enough eggs. There wing feathers (mostly primary and secondary feathers) are almost always a mess and not very pretty even with feather fixer but they are half fur half feather so what can you expect. I do however love the silkie roosters as they are just gorgeous! They make wonderful pets for me!

We've had several of this breed now, and are big fans. Hens are incomparable moms, roos are good at their jobs and friendly. Some of this is due to raising, we know.
Broodiness can be a problem. Crest can impare vision, which is funny and dangerous.
Don't keep this bird for eggs, as others have said. Do keep them for amusement, companionship, incubator/brooder combo... You get the idea!

We have had Silkies, both hens, roosters, hatched chicks, and raised chicks purchased from others... We have found the females to be always docile. Even when they are broody toward other birds, they are always docile for being handled by people. We have never had a hen attempt to bite/pull skin even when taking babies out from under her.

The roosters are often very calm, even after maturity. Of 10 Silkie roosters we have raised, only one was the type to jump at your feet or try to use his claws, and he was a farm store purchase, part of our first set of chickens, and small enough he was pretty harmless, even for our seven year old handler. The rest were calm, treated the hens well, kept excellent watch, and remained sweet when caught and held, just like the hens. I have never had a Silkie attempt to bite or pull skin.

The broodiness can be a challenge if you have a lot of birds and hot summers where you might miss that a hen has gone broody inside the hot coop. We have to pull Silkies out and shut the coop up from them when their broodiness is sparked. They also will spark each other to brood, so if you have more than one, you might end up with everyone trying to brood.

The heavily feathered feet mean you need to watch carefully for overgrown toe-nails and leg mites (Silkies seem to be particularly effected by leg mites over standard non-feathered footed chickens).

Eggs are very hard shelled, so cracking them takes skill if you want unbroken yolks. A good layer will produce about every third day in her season.

Used to have an old silk, she passed away, but never ever have i had or seen a chicken as kind and sweet as she was. She would always go broody and our other chickens never bothered. She wasn't queen bee, but no one cared about her. IF you want an egg layer maybe not this breed, but if you want a clowny beautiful chicken this is it. Ours layed eggs at least 3 times a week but they were little. Took 3 to make one australorp egg She was so worth it though! Never could have asked for a better bird. RIP Distance miss you If you have young children they are delicate birdies, but if supervised they are great chickens for kiddos to hang out with, because they would rather chill like kings and queens than hang out with peasants(i swore thats what our used to think)