Silkie

I love my Silkie! All chicken people should have at least one of these.
This is Lexi my partridge Silkie. She's 24 weeks old.

I have 3 white silkie bantam hens (marshmellow, coconut and cherrio) and they are wonderful. They are the perfect chicken for those who want more of a pet chicken than a leying hen. Also for those who don't live on farms they are great because they dont make tons of noise. They are loving adorably creatures and I would highly recomend them for everyone.

I breed silkies and they are probs my favourite breed of chooks!

I love them cos they're soo fluffy and cute, and the roosters (well, mine anyway) are calm, fairly quite and friendly!

although Im kinda disappointed with my hens, people say how they go broody all the time, well mine maybe only once a year and it mostly only around spring, but they're the best mothers for their little chicks, when they do go broody!

I've had Silkies for over 6 years among the other various breeds that My mother and I have raised/ bred ( including Barnevelders ( blue, splash, normal and double laced), silver spangled hamburgs, new Plymouth rocks ( blue, buff, black, splash, white barred), cobb birds, Andalusians, Sussex ( coronation, white, normal) new Hampshire reds etc etc) other than requiring more than average care ( mainly during winter) they are a great breed that I can't fault. One of the pros is that they are flightless so I only have t 3 ft fence for them and it doesn't have to be roofed. They are very docile and sweet and if raised and handled a lot then they are very friendly. they are great mothers and I have often witnessed them stealing others eggs to add to their potential brood and occasionally chicks as well. Because of their special featherings ( think of it like human hair) they require more shelter than the average bird as their feathers are not at all water proof and once wet they have a much bigger chance of getting sick/ hypothermic as it clings to them and they cannot keep warm or dry. having said that if they are kept inside / in the dry during winter ( our winters are awful so mine spend their time in a covered dry tunnel house) then they do really well. regardless of the other breeds that take my fancy every time I come back to the Silkies for their gentleness, cuteness and friendly appeal. Ironically even though everyone says they don't lay well mine do, on average I get 4-5 eggs from each bird per week. I think that Silkies are also great for children because they are so docile and friendly, they are also inquisitive and comical with the funny things that they do.

The chickens that died were bantams but I do not know HOW he did it, a friend got me an almost SPITTING image of mister butterball...in a new larger size! Like his former, he appears to be quit high on the pecking order, and is also VERY defensive of his lady's! With him (and a giant New Hampshire red!) I KNOW my flock is safe!

I have 2 silkies and I am hopefully getting two more in April! I love these breeds I hope to soon start breeding them and have a little flock of them! I recommend these breeds to any beginner that knows how to give chickens baths!

I love my two silkie bantams they are ever so sweet and lay Lovely eggs and are also great Broody's and great Mothers. One of them are actually broody at the moment and I have bought some eggs for her to hatch! Over all a great Breed

We added 2, a roo and a hen, strictly as ornamental pets. The rooster's comb grew so big it dangled off his head over his left eye and caused it to atrophy until blind on that side. We think he was a bit retarded as well because he had a strange tick where every few minutes all he could do is stand still and slowly cock his head sideways and then rapidly repeat the motion (as if he were trying to bang a gong with his ear). Anyway, all that aside they were exactly what we were looking for: cute, fuzzy chicken entertainment.

Really, everything wonderful that can be said about these birds has already been said. They're incredibly friendly, hardy, easy to take care of, the least aggressive birds I've ever seen. The roosters are especially awesome. I've had mine (his name is Phantom) since he was about 10 days old. He's about 6 months old now, and is funny, charming, sweet as can be, and a VERY good father. He gets along with dogs, cats, and any other chicken I've had him around. He (like all my others) is a house chicken, and Silkies are great for this.

A couple of months ago, I picked up a couple of 5 day old chicks; a frizzled Cochin, and a porcelain d'uccle. They cried and cried in their little brooder box, so I decided to try and put them in with my hen (Polka Dot, a sizzle) and Phantom. I kept a close eye on them, but Polka Dot took them in immediately, and Phantom went right into parent mode. If one of the babies needed anything, he was right on it. Somehow he could tell when they were hungry, and would walk over to the feeder and cluck away until they came running. He would watch over them while they ate, and would even gently nudge them back under mama when they were ready to go get warm again.

The babies are now over 2 months old (the frizzle is a loud and proud rooster with a MASSIVE comb), and Phantom is still watching over them. When they're scratching and pecking outside, he is constantly on the lookout for tasty bugs to give the babies. It is just the most heartwarming thing I've ever seen. He will kill the bugs, and call to the kids and his special hen so they can eat. Even when I try to give him a treat that is just for him, he gives it away to his family. What a sweetheart!

He does (like all roosters) enjoy crowing often, but even for a quite large example of a bantam, it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, if he decides to start crowing before I'm ready to wake up, I can easily go back to sleep, if he wakes me up at all. His favorite thing to do is cuddle - he will snuggle up on your chest and lay there as long as you can stand it. Movie marathons are a favorite in our house, and it's usually me with a Pitbull on one side, a cat on the other, and Phantom snoozing in my lap. Awesome.

All in all, every Silkie I've owned (I have 2 1/2!), seen, or met has been amazing. I can't recommend this breed highly enough - especially for beginners, because I was when I got him, and it's been a wonderful experience.

These are my too new babies. I have one black silkie pullet and one partridge silkie cockerel.

I got three silkies from a hatchery for $5 each and ended up with two out of three roosters. The hen started laying pretty early and actually lays quite frequently (pinkish eggs) but she doesn't look like the ideal silkie hen. One rooster became incredibly aggressive and has more pink skin than black skin. That was really disappointing. The other rooster is sweet and has turned out to be a beautiful light splash. He is good to his girls but wants to top them a lot.. but at least he knows his place and is never mean to humans. I went to a breeder and bought a partridge pullet for $35 and she's turned out really great, beautiful, really ditzy and kind of out there, but she's calm and lays an adorable and tiny tan egg now. I will be getting more silkies next year, I absolutely adore them! But get from a breeder, NOT a hatchery!!! Easier to rehome the roosters that way anyways.

I had 7 Silkies; 6 hens, 1 rooster. The hens were very outgoing and easy to approach (except for one), and my rooster was almost friendlier than the hens! They got along great with my Rhode Island Reds, and were the most interesting looking of the flock. The only problem I had noticed with these birds is they seemed a bit too friendly and trusting (mine did anyway) and it made them easy targets for large animals. I would recommend these birds to anyone who is looking for a great pet, and family bird. My only tip is to make sure your setup is extra safe, these birds are easy to lose.

I have a young Silkie pullet. I bought her untamed, but she became throughly tame within fifteen minutes. She is fearless, calm, curious, and totally nonaggressive, unlike my Seramas who derive most of their character from competitive aggression. I hope she'll become a good foster mother in the future. I've got a lot of good things to say about my little bit of experience with silkies. She's successfully defended my Seramas from barn cats. And she's still sweet as pie. I'd buy another Silkie in a heartbeat if I had room. I recommend silkies heartily. Rarely will you find a breed so suited to living and working with humans.

My silkie rooster is a great rooster. The one hen we had last winter was one of the best winter laying hens. But they lay small eggs. They go broody a lot. My black silkie hen usually doesn't go broody til May. This hen is also very mean when broody, and is not afraid to draw blood. They are not very high on the pecking order. Over all they a great bird and everybody should have one.

Silkies are a wonderful breed of chicken, even though they dont seem much like a chicken at all! They are very social and friendly, and loveeee to get attention! Whenever I have company over at my house with little kids, they all want to hold the "fluffy one" and think she is the cutest thing ever! She is so calm, gentle, and super funny to watch while playing outside! Silkies can't see too well, which makes them an easy target for predators, but as long as the have a safe place to go at night and supervision while playing outside, they are normally good. My silkie can barley see, but its so funny to watch her try to eat mealworms from my hand! She can never quite get them, and always aims too low Another funny thing she does is try to dust bathe in our grass! LOL! Whenever I pick her up and mover her to the dirt she just runs back over to the grass and continues to scratch and try to shuffle the grass into her feathers. Silkies aren't great layers, which doesnt bother me too much because I'm not a big fan of eggs, plus she gives me a lot of laughs which is all I could ask for. However, if you are into the eggs, then the silkies may not be the breed for you.

Heres my little pretty Her name is Gertrude! Gertie for a nickname

The sweetest chicken I have ever came across! They have a lovely nature, they are sweet to cuddle and so much more great things! My ones have the funniest nature! They are so entertaining to watch! My friends come over my house a lot to watch these!! They are rated #1 chicken to me. They are very cheeky too, they find small little holes to fit through and sometimes escape their pen! Its so cute when they run, they waddle like a penguin except so fast!!! They are a huge crack up to the whole family!!

I started off with 2 silkies, one black, one white. The white one, Marshmallow, had her head and right wing ripped off by a hawk about 2 weeks ago. Now we just have Smokey left. Both I have had since about a week old and they were handled daily but still remained very afraid and skittish. It's very interesting, since the white one died, the black one has become much more people friendly and will actually somewhat accept being pet and can be picked up without much fuss. I often feel bad for her, as her and the white silkie which died were constant buddies and kind of their own group, often isolating themselves from the rest of the flock. Now that it is just the black one, she still is often by herself.

This bantam is a 5 star bantam chicken.

They are cute, fluffy, affectionate, and goes broody quite a bit!!
The only cons are that they only lay small eggs every other day!!