The Silkie is a variety of chicken believed to have originated in eastern Asia. Silkies generally have a fluffy appearance due to their feathers lacking functioning barbicels; essentially, all their feathers are very much like down. Their unique appearance and their quiet temperament mean they are often kept as pets. The hens easily become broody, laying only a dozen or so eggs before attempting to hatch out their clutch. They are considered excellent mothers. Their broodiness makes them a poor breed for egg production, and their dark skin makes them difficult to market as meat birds in Europe and America.Silkies are near-unique among chickens: both skin and bones are black. Black skin is found in only silkies and some rare breeds - the Indonesian Ayam Cemani, the South American Black Quechua Olmec, and the Swedish Svart Höna. The Black Sumatra and Rapanui breeds sometimes have black skin also. Silkies also have five toes on each foot, whereas most chickens only have four.The American Bantam Association accepts six standard colors for silkies: black, blue, buff, white, partridge and grey. There are also other colors: red, calico, cuckoo, etc. One theory presents white as the original color with black following as a mutation. Buff was introduced via a cochin cross, as well as for the cuckoo pattern. There are two varieties of silkie: bearded and non-bearded. Marco Polo is reported to have encountered Silkies in China at the end of the 13th century, where they are raised for the gourmet meat market to this day. Silkies are only bantam size in the USA. American silkies are actually intermediate in size, not proper bantam but not large fowl either. Elsewhere there are standards for both the bantam Silkie and the standard Silkie. Silkies are used in traditional Chinese medicine, due to their dark skin colouration. A cross has been undertaken to transfer this pigmentation to a larger breed. References^ FeatherSite - The Poultry Page^ Stanhope, Bill. Developing A Large Dark Skinned Meat Bird By Crossing With The Silkie.The Silkie not your average pet, 1998, Sharon Greenaway. Bellsouth Poultry supplies. ISBN 0949340081Moore, Alanna (1998). Backyard Poultry — Naturally, 2nd Ed. Bolwarrah Press, Bolwarrah Vic Australia. ISBN 0-9585590-1-5. 

Find the right chicken breed for you Chicken FAQ Why raise chickens List of chicken breeds ... Belgian Bearded d'Uccle Bantam: Booted Bantam: Brahma: Buckeye: Campine: Catalana: Chantecler

To Stubborn Elm Ranch's Bantam Chicken Breeds Menu: We have downsized the amount of bantam breeds we carry and breed so that we can focus on producing a higher quality show and

U.S. Serama Club - Breed improvement in the Malaysian Serama Bantam Chicken! ... Welcome to the U.S. Serama Club. In starting this club, we hope to provide ...

 

Bantam chicken for sale for bantam poultry, bantam chick, bantam chicken breed, and bantam breed ... Bantams GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE Bantam Chickens are the miniatures of the chicken family.

Buff Brahma Bantam Bantams are the miniatures of the chicken family. All Bantams sold as straight run only. ... Breed Abbrv: Group: QTY Price: To Purchase: Buff Brahma Bantam: St Run: 5: 11.00

The Dutch Bantam Discussion Board Be sure to hit "refresh" or "reload" to see a fresh version of the board. You new posts and other new material won't show up unless ...

Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart ... Pekins are recognized as a separate bantam breed in some countries, rather than as bantam ...

Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart: choosing chicken breeds ... The term bantam comes from a small chicken that originated in the Bantam region of Java, but after they ...