![]() ![]() ![]() Egg sizes can range from 1.25 oz to 2.5 oz (35g – 70g) per egg. Just as there are many different chicken breeds, there are many different sizes of eggs. Silkie eggs are white in color and some may have an off-white or cream color. So yes, Silkies aren’t the best choice for someone wanting basketfuls of eggs, but if you keep at least five hens, your girls will provide you with a handful of adorable eggs that are perfectly edible every week. They also start laying later than other chickens, with some hens that might keep you waiting until they are almost a year old before they provide you with a single egg! Silkies are a popular choice for a backyard flock and they make highly fashionable pets, but unfortunately, they are notoriously poor layers! Your Silkie girls will provide you with approximately 100 – 120 eggs per year. The yolks of bantam eggs tend to be larger relative to the size of the egg than in large fowl chickens. They taste pretty good as Silkies love to free range and find all sorts of greenery and insects, all of which improve the eggs and especially the bright yellow yolks.īecause Silkies are so small, their eggs are also a little smaller but that makes them ideal for a kid’s breakfast. ![]() So, now that we’ve done a little background research into the truly special Silkie chook, we’ve rounded up the fast facts for you so that you can have all the important info available at a quick glance. Now that we know where they come from, let’s take a quick glance at the facts. Even though we can definitely see the likeness between the satin-like coat of a rabbit and the fluffy feathers of a Silkie – we can say with absolute certainty that these little chooks are not mammals in the slightest, just a very unique chicken. Stories abounded that the Silkie chicken was the result of crossing a chicken and a rabbit and Silkies were even included in sideshows and labelled bird-mammals. We cannot be one hundred percent sure where Silkies first scratched around, but we know that they have a long and complex history dotted across the Asian landscape, and that they were traded on the Silk Road which is most probably where the Silkie name came from.Īlthough early travelers like Marco Polo and Aldrovandi made mention of the unusual quality of the Silkie chicken’s plumage, there were many myths that surrounded the unique feathering once these little chickens made their way to Europe. ![]() Silkies are mentioned a second time by Ulisse Aldrovandi, a celebrated Italian writer, in his treatise on chickens where he talked about the Silkie has a “chicken with hair like a black cat”. The first documented account we have of a Silkie chicken is Marco Polo who encountered what he termed a “furry chicken” on his famous and fateful thirteenth-century travels. Silkies are a ubiquitous breed and there is no doubt about it that it is a very old breed that was first discovered in China. If you’re looking for a really special and out of the ordinary chook to add to your backyard flock, you cannot go wrong with these fluffy beauties.īy the end of this article, you will be dying to add a Silkie to your flock – or to just run out and buy more because they are some of the best backyard additions you could hope for! Their feathering sets them apart from regular chickens, but Silkies are also unusual in the sense that they have black skin, blue earlobes, extra toes and an inability to fly.Ī cheeky little head-turner, Silkie chickens delight their owners with their cute looks, friendly disposition, docile nature and adaptability. Silkie chickens are known for their characteristically fluffy plumage said to feel silk- or satin-like to the touch. Or perhaps you’re just a fan of these cute little critters and wondering what they’re like in the egg production department? It doesn’t matter what brought you here, what’s going to keep you here is the fact that myself and my poultry peeps collectively have more than 30 years’ experience with these fantastic little birds and can truly consider ourselves Silkie Chicken Experts! So, we can tell you all about this breed along with all the delicious details regarding their adorable eggs. So, you’re here because you want to learn about Silkie eggs? Yes, these little fluffy chickens are also capable of laying eggs for you and your family, that’s part and parcel of what makes them such highly sought-after family pets. Which came first the chicken or the egg? While this is an egg-sestential question, for the purposes of this article, let’s say that the egg came first. Background Information on the Silkie Breed ![]()
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