Question 1) Silkies don't fly like other bantams but they still use their wings to flap when hopping onto places. I saw two of my Silkie hens sparring with each other and both jumped nearly 4 feet in the air while sparring. I saw our broody 2.2-lb Silkie hen fighting with our 5.45-lb Blue Wheaten Ameraucana and the Silkie was jumping quite a height trying to get a dominance hold on the back of the Ameraucana. Generally Silkies are sweet docile birds but during broody times they can get on each other's nerves occasionally. I have a 2-foot rabbit fencing around my garden to keep the chickens out and the Silkies don't even try to jump over it. They are pretty much ground creepers rather than flyers. Other breeds of chickens will come running or flying when they see me while the Silkies have a cute fast hop, skip, running waddle when they come to see me. They arrive last sometimes so therefore I feed them the treats first! However, I do have one little Silkie that can beat the flock at running!
Question 2) Bantam Silkies range from 2 to 2.5-lbs. They are the largest bantam breed to my knowledge and therefore their eggs are the largest of the bantam breeds. Our Silkie eggs average 1.25-oz and occasionally get a 1.3 to 1.5-oz egg from our girls. There are large fowl Silkies but they are more prevalent in the U.K. but there might be a large fowl Silkie breeder in the USA that I don't know about.
Question 3) I pass on this question since I can only recommend a breeder on my West Coast.
Question 4) Silkies can feel incredibly soft depending on the individual bird. I have one very densely-feathered Partridge that doesn't feel as soft as my little Black Silkie - she feels like rabbit fur to the touch. Their "flight" wing feathers look like normal large fowl feathers but pretty much the rest of their feathers look and feel like fluffy "fur"
