Chicken Breed Focus - Silkie

[Sylvester017]

OK.... I'm loving all the Silkies pics on here! They are adorable. But they have me wondering about my own. We were told they are silkie bantams, but mine aren't near as fluffy as the ones I am seeing. Could they be a mix? I don't really care because I wasn't planning on showing or breeding. Just kind of wondering. They are only 4 months old, but one doesn't even have a poof at all (didn't make it all the way into the picture).
Also worried we may have more than the one rooster. He is significantly bigger than the rest, so hoping he's the only one. Thoughts??

Silkies in the USA are considered bantams anywhere from 2 to 2.5-lb range. There are large fowl Silkies as can be seen on feathersite.com but they mostly are in the U.K. Also, Silkies come in both bearded and non-bearded and both are SOP accepted by the ABA. The fluffiness you are mentioning is probably the fuller bearded-type Silkies with a full crest and full bearded chin making their heads look like one big round furball. The non-bearded Silkies don't have the full roundness of the bearded Silkies and the non-bearded will have wattles. Looking at your photo you have one non-bearded Silkie with a very nice poufy crest (middle of the photo). Unfortunately not every Silkie will be show-stoppers and may never have the kind of fur seen in show quality birds but the sweet personality of these bantams is all the same! If you want to see a variety of bearded, non-bearded, bantam, and large fowl Silkies go to feathersite.com -- lots of photos of the different ways Silkies can grow out.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Silkies/BRKSilkies.html

 

[ShrekDawg]

If you got them from Tractor Supply or other similar farm store or from s hatchery then unfortunately a lot of those silkies won't really have a crest or poor ones. And they are often a lot bigger than SOP ones. theyre like dinosaurs LOL that's probably the case. For the nice full crests, bearded or not, you would have to find a good quality reputable breeder

 

[Sylvester017]

My 3 Silkies often pile in a nest box to sleep, sometimes only one will be in the nest box and two will roost. Typically 2 are in the nest box and one is roosting, but then all of a sudden out of the blue, they all were roosting last night. Go figure.

I let all my hens decide where they want to sleep/roost. After I find what they prefer I'll modify the location for their comfort. My large fowl like the perch to roost by the coop-window-with-a-view. Our Silkies continue to be nestbox sleepers even after transferring them to our newest coop so we take measures to keep the boxes clean of poop and add fresh straw as needed. Some owners prefer to train their Silkies to roost on perches and that's their choice. Whatever works for the owners and makes the chickens happy is fine with me

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[Sylvester017]

OK.... I'm loving all the Silkies pics on here! They are adorable. But they have me wondering about my own. We were told they are silkie bantams, but mine aren't near as fluffy as the ones I am seeing. Could they be a mix? I don't really care because I wasn't planning on showing or breeding. Just kind of wondering. They are only 4 months old, but one doesn't even have a poof at all (didn't make it all the way into the picture).
Also worried we may have more than the one rooster. He is significantly bigger than the rest, so hoping he's the only one. Thoughts??

Have you had a chance to go to feathersite.com to see the various ways Silkies can grow out?
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Silkies/BRKSilkies.htm

No two Silkies ever look alike to me - whether bearded or non-bearded. @Fancychooklady likes the non-bearded Silkies because they stay cleaner when they eat and have better vision than the bearded type of Silkies with the big round poofy heads. I have a Black Silkie that has a poofy crest/beard after every molt but after happily foraging outdoors she wears down her crest feathers as well as her toe feathers. I would prefer to leave the poofy head Silkies to the show people as the poofy heads really don't last in an outdoor environment:

BLACK SILKIE WITH POOFY CREST/BEARD



AFTER DUSTY ROMPS OUTDOORS SHE EVENTUALLY WEARS DOWN HER CREST, FACE, BEARD, AND TOE FEATHERS:

 

[ShrekDawg]

Not entirely related but figured I'd post this here sincd this is a Silkie thread and I saw it in my subscriptions when trying to find another thread, didn't even think of this one at first hah

Anyway, my friend's friend is getting rid of his rooster if anybody wants a rooster! She just texted me so i took screenshots of all the info but basically he's a Silkie and he wants $20 or to trade for a Silkie hen. He's moving to Vermont. We're in Massachusetts. And I just talked to my friend on the phone too and apparently he's also getting rid of his 3 ducks, those are $20 too and all males I think. She thinks they might be muscovies but she's not really sure. 2 of them fly and one doesn't anymore so I'm thinking they might possibly be something else but don't know. She's going to try to get pictures of them. So yeah. If anyone wants one just tell me and I'll tell my friend and/or put you in contact with one of them. Thanks.

 

[Mom24moores]

If you got them from Tractor Supply or other similar farm store or from s hatchery then unfortunately a lot of those silkies won't really have a crest or poor ones. And they are often a lot bigger than SOP ones. theyre like dinosaurs LOL that's probably the case. For the nice full crests, bearded or not, you would have to find a good quality reputable breeder

Yes they are from Tractor Supply so my expectations were low... not looking to show or anything. They are pretty big as well...especially the roo! I was more curious than anything. They are still relatively young so I was just curious what to expect. Thanks to all that answered. I will check out that website! Still not sure of the sex of 2 of them. Fingers crossed for hens!

 

[Sylvester017]

Yes they are from Tractor Supply so my expectations were low... not looking to show or anything. They are pretty big as well...especially the roo! I was more curious than anything. They are still relatively young so I was just curious what to expect. Thanks to all that answered. I will check out that website! Still not sure of the sex of 2 of them. Fingers crossed for hens!

Even bantam Silkies will grow different sizes/weights. And Silkies within the same hatch will all look different when grown. It's why show breeders cull so heavily to get one or two show quality birds out of a hundred hatches. Before I understood this I looked for breeders that had older Silkie juveniles with the full crests/beards and only got juveniles that were easier to identify as to their sex. I thought something was "wrong" with a Silkie that didn't look like a show queen -- but now I know a Silkie is just as sweet with or without a beard, or with or without 5 toes on each foot, etc. As backyard pets they are still all wonderful -- just wouldn't use the "flawed" ones for breeding if I was planning to sell or show them.

 

[WhisperingOaks]

So since I only got one paint out of my hatch what color do I breed this one too?

 

[WhisperingOaks]

And I picked silkies because they are perfect in every way of course!

 

[WhisperingOaks]

Keeping feathers out of their eyes with a 'haircut'.Something worth mentioning since my especially poofy silkies benefit from a buzz cut about twice a year: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cs-how-i-know-when-they-need-it#post_17605105