Silkie

ive never actually owned a silkie but a close friend has
she was black and loved to be picked up and snuggled with.

I looove my Silkies...They are amazing!!!

My Paw Paw raised a few silkies when we were younger. They were so sweet!! My little flock is not the friendliest. They all came from abused backgrounds so I don't blame them. My hens are not aggressive so the kids can help with the eggs. I would like for myself and my kids to be able to pet....

I adore my silkies. SImply adore. I could never ask for a better bird.

i love my silkes

I love silkies! Some of the best birds out there! They are so sweet! Once you have one you are hooked you have to have more! I recommend silkies for anyone starting with bantams and showing. They are great with kids! They sometimes need more work because of there fluff but otherwise they are great!

I have a small flock and have been keeping very good records on the amount of eggs my birds have been laying since August 19th 2011 until today Jan. 28, 2012. These birds were born May 18, 2010 and so all birds recorded below are exactly the same age. Please also note the Silkies were the first to start laying eggs. One more note, during the coldest part of these recorded days it is the Silkies that are producing almost an egg per day. During the entire month of January (so far) the Silkies have each laid the most with Alice laying 20 and Doris laying 19!! The Australorp laid 8 and the Wyandotte laid 5. As you can imagine the Silkies also have the biggest appetites right now as well.

Australorp (Mayfred) number of eggs = 84
Silver Laced Wyandotte (Elsie) number of eggs = 40
White Silkie #1 (Alice) number of eggs = 71
White Silkie #2 (Doris) number of eggs = 61

I have been so impressed by these small Silkies since I started recorded their activities I am now a big fan. I also think it is a plus that a backyard chicken such as the Silkie does go broody and can reproduce without intervention by humans. Isn't that what they are supposed to do?

We have a plucky blue Silkie Rooster, named Madeline, as he was supposed to be a pullet. He is the perfect rooster for us b/c he is very good with the hens and is NOT an attack-happy rooster to people. Occasionally he will attack or chase one of us but it is pretty mild and just kind of funny since he is so small. He always shows the hens where the best treats are and makes sure they eat before he does. We also think he is just gorgeous.

We had another black Silkie Rooster named Colonel Tedward Featherbaum but he found a nice new home since the coop wasn't big enough for both he and Madeline.

My kids love our silkie hens the best. They are small, easy to handle and love to be cuddled. Their feathers are very soft; it is no wonder they are called the kittens of the chicken world! If you tuck them inside your jacket they take a little nap. The kids have taken them to school for show and tell. Each hen lays about 3 small eggs a week. They tend to stick to their own kind and while they co-exist with a mixed flock, my silkies are on the bottom half of the pecking order. They like low roosts and all three of mine sleep in a nesting box. Considering their small size, they are very winter hardy and cope just fine with Minnesota winters in an unheated coop. Silkies are super cute and make wonderful pet chickens.


The silkie eggs are on the right.

I love my Silkies!

Just great fun birds to have

Well everyone tells me these chickens get broody quite quick and that they are good mothers and that they are friendly to humans and i really want this breed i was thinking about adding this breed to my flock in summer. =)

These awesome little birds are the ultimate pets if they are handelded well, they are not the best layers but lay a cute white egg Great pets! Cross with a sussex for a Auto Sexing breed that makes the ultamite broody!

Silkies make excellent pets! Their small size and docile nature make them very easy to handle and socialize. Mine are very quirky little things, making them entertaining chickens. My little girls generally lay about 5 eggs each a week when they're not broody. The eggs are about one step smaller than store bought small eggs. They're such pretty little birds, and are hardier than I would have ever anticipated, but their furry feet feathers tend to collect gunk if it's muddy or messy outside. And their feathers don't shed water like hard feathers do, so they look like drowned rats if/when they get caught in a rain. My girls enjoy free ranging; of all my birds, my silkies complain the loudest about wanting out of the run if I'm not out there early. However, they would do fine contained. Due to their limited vision (crests block a lot), I would consider them more at-risk than crestless breeds when it comes to free ranging. This pic is of my dual broody silkies.

one is a little squawky in the morning.

I have looked every where and cant find one!! but i want one...

I got my first silkies from a local breeder in 2009. I fell in love instantly! These birds are small and friendly. I get a lot of comments on the "furry chickens." The feathered feet are hard to maintain though, for those wishing to show, and the regular broodiness can be a problem. But these are well-tempered birds, great on the show table.

Very pretty, and their feathers are like fur!

So far I LOVE SILKIES TO DEATH.I just got two new silkie chicks and I have never had the breed but I already think my blue is a boy and my white is a girl They love to be held and are good with my one year old niece. out of ALL the chicks I have ever had, these have got to be my favorite, I don't know why but every time i look at them I LOVE THEM MORE!!!

Silkies are a wonderful bantam pet breed in my experience. They have funny personalities and are friendly, even with children. They make great, nurturing mothers and even the roosters are often good with chicks. This is why some use silkies to hatch eggs from other types of poultry. The silkie girls were born to be mothers and often go broody. They are dedicated and determined to hatch!
I say they require more TLC than other breeds, because they cannot see well with their large puffy crests. They are a very easy target for predators and should be free ranged only under close supervision. This also makes them fall easy from attacks of other chickens, and they can easily get brain injuries from head pecks. Silkies aren't the best about putting themselves away in a coop either when they have an attached run, so it may be necessary to pick them up and put them to bed. This is especially true when it's cold and wet.
I think their fluffy look is absolutely adorable! Silkies are the chicken for me.