Silkie

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A silkie hen

Silkie hen's head

Silky meat is sold at a market in Taiwan. You can see its skin, meat, entrails and bones are black

Silkie is also an alternate spelling of Selkie, a mythical creature that can change between seal and human form.

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. 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. ^[1]. Silkies also have five toes on each foot, whereas most chickens only have four. Their crowns have to be trimmed occasionally so they can see properly.

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.^[2]

[edit] 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 0949340081
Moore, Alanna (1998). Backyard Poultry — Naturally, 2nd Ed. Bolwarrah Press, Bolwarrah Vic Australia. ISBN 0-9585590-1-5.