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Silkie

The silkie chicken was developed in the southeast asian countries or china.It was valued as a medicinal food item because of its black skin and bones
Nicest, cutest, and fluffiest babies ever.
Pros: Amazing pets, great hatchers, sweet, can be kept in a smaller space.
Cons: Low egg production and eggs are small. Also take up to a year of age to start laying.
I have a few and I love them to death. Got to say that they're my fav breed. They take a long, long time to lay though.
Pros: Super sweet
fluffy
Delighting to the eye
Cons: Can get picked on easily
Broody
I have one of my own and she is super sweet I would highly recommend one if your looking to naturally hatch out some eggs.
Pros: Beautiful breed
Unique
Popular and easy to sell
Great mothers
Docile and friendly
Cons: Skittish
Not the brightest birds
Susceptible to predators
Infrequent egg layers
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.
Purchase Price
$5 per chick
Purchase Date
10/21/2020

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Best Pets
Pros: docile, friendly, good pets, good broodies, very cute, lots of personality
Cons: not great egg layers- they tend to take long breaks in egg laying
delicate 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!
Purchase Price
£40 per adult bird, £10 for 6 eggs, £10 per 6wk old
Purchase Date
September 2020
Soft, sweet birds.
Pros: Temperament: super sweet

Lays lots of eggs. Many people say silkies don’t lay a lot, but my single silkie hen laues an egg almost every day... through winter as well.

They’re cute and funny, especially watching their fluffy butts run through the yard.

Come in a great variety of colors.

Won’t bully other chickens.

Great mother’s.
Cons: Goes broody often. If you don’t want a hen to raise eggs, these might not be your gals.

Takes awhile to mature, so hard to guess gender.

If you live in a muddy climate, you will want to bathe your silkie, especially the feet.

Vulnerable to predators.
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.
Purchase Price
3.00 dollars
Purchase Date
Sometime in 2020, early spring.

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Lemon-Drop
Lemon-Drop
@Silkies4Days, I'm so sorry to hear about your poor girl :hugs That must've been very hard. :hugs
Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies
Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies
@Lemon-Drop I do miss her, but it was partially my fault. The one night I forget to close the coop door :'(
Lemon-Drop
Lemon-Drop
@Silkies4Days, I'm sorry to hear about that, but don't blame yourself! It happens!
Pros: They are cute, good mothers, and are fun to have around in your garden.
Cons: They are skittish, they don’t have good defence mechanisms meaning they are more likely to get eaten by predators (in my opinion).
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.
Pros: Sweet and calm easy to take care of
Cons: Some say they don't lay much but, my hen lays a lot of eggs.
Good sweet little chickens
Purchase Price
$3.00 I think
Purchase Date
Some day in 2019
Pros: Are great broodies.
Cons: Not very good layers.
Loved silkies and want to get some!
Pros: This is a nice friendly breed with soft downy feathers. I loved my silkie hen's eggs and she was (and still is!) a sweet bird.
Cons: My full-sized hen only layed for 4-5 years compared to my other hens that layed 6-7 years. The full-sized silkie is a commercial meat breed that is not recognized by the American Poultry Association.
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.
Pros: 1. Very fluffy and fun to cuddle
2. Very friendly and sweet
3. Great winter layers
4. Great danger alarms
5. I have heard from just about every silkie owner around that they are great mothers, but I have not yet had one go broody myself
Cons: 1. They can't fly very well, I once had a cockerel hurt his leg, probably by falling and not being able to catch himself, it wasn't his fault, it's just the way their feathers are (and it doesn't really matter to me, I just thought I'd put that in)
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!
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Pros: Great mothers
Cons: Not good layers.
Kittiek
Kittiek
Your silkies are so cute!!! I will be a first time silkie mamma next week and i cannot wait!!!
cra8ychix
cra8ychix
Thank you. They are such good mamas. And my Roo is so good with the babies and protective.
Pros: They are super fuzzy and beautiful, they are good for hatching chickens.
Cons: 1. Perpetually broody.
2. Can they actually see?????
Pros: Friendly to a point
broody
don't eat alot
don't need a lot of space
Cons: extremely prone to illness
timid
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.
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Pros: Great pet, awesome broodies
Cons: Lacking intelligence, productive abilities, and tolerance in heat or cold.
Pros: Silkies are so so so friendly and love being held!
Cons: They definitely aren't very intelligent
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...
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Pros: Very broody. Courageous if you get the beardless. With the beards they cannot see so it's like another variety.
Cons: Very broody.
Purchase Price
$1.00 a chick at Tractor Supply
Pros: Quiet, cute, dont bother any flock members, silkies will always stick together, cold hardy
Cons: VERY TIMID, not proficient egg layers
They did great for their first winter up in the north, (-35C) in a semi insulated coop, they are quiet and dont cause issues within the flock, people say they are friendly but my two hens and roo are they complete opposite. They never leave eachothers side, they dont ''hangout'' with other breeds of chickens i have.
Purchase Price
10$ per chick
Purchase Date
June 2018
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Pros: Good temperament
Fluffy
Easy to handle
Good with cold and heat
Cons: Tend to go broody
Bearded Silkies can tend to have eye issues if you don’t take care of crest fluff
Tend to be bullied by other chickens that may be bigger
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.:)

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Pros: Super Fluffy and adorable
Friendly personality (if raised right)
Smaller size so great for kids
They go broody often (Would be good for hatching eggs)
Live a long time
Typically don't mind being help
Cons: Feathers on feet
Eggs are small and they don't lay that many eggs
Wing feathers are hard to keep in shape and are usually damaged
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!
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Pros: Ridiculously cute
Great mom
Good top hen
Propensity to be friendly
Cons: Broody frequently
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!
Purchase Price
25

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