![]() Silkies are a great species of chicken to have in your backyard, and if you’ve decided to bring one of these unique birds home, you’ll need to decide which color is your favorite! In this article, we look at the 10 different colors that Silkies are found in. These feathers are just like regular feathers, however, and extend down to their legs and feet, too. ![]() Silkies are definitely one of the most unique and unusual chicken breeds, and in addition to their unique coloring, they have an extra fifth toe and blue earlobes! Silkies also have a unique plumage that is more like fluff than feathers, giving them a silky feel that is far more cuddle-worthy than any other chicken breed. Bearded Silkies have an extra beard, or “muff,” of feathers underneath their beak. Silkies come in two distinct variations: bearded and non-bearded. This helps support the content I'm creating, the animals on the farm and the rewilding projects I'm building to help create an oasis for wildlife.Silkie chickens are arguably one of the most beautiful chicken breeds, and although they are most commonly found in white, they can come in a wide range of other beautiful colors too. ☕ Enjoyed and found this article useful? Please consider buying me a virtual Coffee. ![]() And if you’ve any questions, please just comment below and I’ll do my best to respond. ![]() I have a YouTube outlining some of these IDs - please see below. However, once again, combined with other characteristics, it will help ID your hens and silkie cockerels. These are often males, though hens will also bicker to establish pecking order. They’ll stand face to face, pushing their neck out and often splaying their neck feathers. However, you may see two birds standing off against each other. This isn’t necessarily treading, as cockerels often will not attempt this until they’re a lot older. Combine such characteristics with some of the ID tips above, particularly the feathers, and you’ll soon have your answer.įinally, like all chickens, young silkies will begin to establish gender related behaviour fairly early on. Meanwhile, young cockerels wattles will start to grow into pale blue or red lobes that hang down a little. Hen wattles will often remain just small patches of blue on the side of the face until they reach maturity. Though both silkie hens and cockerels both have wattles and combs, boys tend to start growing them earlier. Below, a young hen with a neat, rounded crown. A wet crown is almost impossible to correctly identify as it can be a right mess.ĪBOVE: A young cockerel with an oval crown and streamers. When you’re looking at the crown, I advise making sure your silkies are dry. It’s often quite messy, with multiple streamers sticking out in all places. Meanwhile, for males, the crown is often more oblong or egg-shaped. There should be no ‘streamers’ sticking out as mentioned above. In hens, when you look down from a birds-eye view, it should be neat and fairly rounded. The crown on a silkie, is the group of feathers on top of the head. Saddle feathers are long and thin, grow from the centre of the back and hand down, often curling around the tail and rump. Saddle feathers - as their name suggests, saddle feathers appear on the back and tail end of poultry think of the placement of a horse saddle. Whereas hens have nice, short, rounded feathers, you’ll find that young males have a messy looking crown a top their head with the so called ‘streamers’ sticking out the back. Streamers - silkie cockerels tend to get thin, long feathers coming from their crown. At nine weeks (3 months old), some of the gender specific feathers will begin to appear. One of the best ways to work out the gender of your silkie is by the feathers.
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