Talk:Silkie

Expanding this page
I think the following information is appropriate for all chicken pages, and I would love to see it on Silkies as well:


 * Eggs per year.
 * Weight ranges.
 * Photograph

Silkies are certainly a very unique bird, and I'm certain that have a much more interesting history than a few references by Marco Polo. Any more on the history of the silkie and its usage in China would be very much appreciated.

The photograph is really what's needed to make this page, since silkies have such a unique appearance. Unfortunately I've been unable to find any suitably licensed images, and I haven't kept silkies myself for a couple of years. It will be a while until I get a chance to photograph one myself.

--pjf 00:30, 27 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * I've added an image to the page, but the license is rather cumbersome. The photographer and website must be displayed alongside the image whenever it is shown.  A more wikipedia-friendly licensed image would be wonderful.  --PJF (talk) 10:47, 27 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * I just identified one silkie here : Image:MG 9563.jpg --User:Salix27 june 2006


 * I can give some information about silkie egg laying habits, but is there really any point? Hens do not always lay eggs very regularly, either because they just don't, aren't in the mood, it's the wrong weather, etc. It seems a little silly to talk about how they might lay their cute, tiny eggs every day, but maybe not, but since I find this all normal, I don't know what is common knowledge and what is not.

blood color
I've added a photo of my two silkie hens to the page. A higher-resolution photo would still be good. I also question the claim that Ayam Cemani chickens have black blood. Does anyone have a reliable source for this claim? I have found this website http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Cemani/BRKCemani.html but it clearly is unsure about the black blood. Limeguin 12:55, 24 July 2006 (UTC)


 * When our silkie got stolen by a coyote, it didn't look as though there was black blood... but that's just anecdote, of course, and it was pretty dusty. Maybe there's a show breeder site or something that might have information? Or a vet?192.211.25.9 15:21, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

http://www.americansilkiebantamclub.org/silkie_standard.htm gives the standard weight ranges for this breed. (a link to this site maybe helpful) In addition, there are also silver and cukoo feather colorings. I have never heard of a silkie having problems raising baby chicks or any need to trim birds with chicks due to strangulation. I have a silkie hen who has layed an egg every other day since starting and she is now 10 months old and has yet to be broody. And with the black blood, I doubt this is true but is rather a myth, as bloods color come from the oxygenated hemoglobin. It can appear black if not looked at carefully and has dried or clotted. The black pigment of the skin is due to the excess production of pigment in the chickens connective tissue, which explains why the skin and bones have a darker hue than does the meat. 128.208.118.83 07:26, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

A Silky is just like any other chickens, it can never have black blood. The only colour of blood they got is as same as human. It does however have black meat. Loser 21:52, 17 January 2007


 * From pictures of slaughtered birds I found on the internet, silkies have dark red blood. I would assume this would be true for other black-fleshed birds. I cannot see how black blood could work.

67.168.59.171 (talk) 09:14, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Too many pictures
This page has too many pictures. We should probably cut the images down to just one. Which one should we choose? Danny 19:28, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

On the contrary, I found the pictures appropriately informative. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.46.228.100 (talk) 02:10, 23 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Silkies come in many colors so there should maybe be more pictures to show that. SSS (talk) 04:20, 24 December 2007 (UTC)


 * No. Wikipeida articles should not be used as some sort of picture gallery especially if there is not much text in the article. Even if the article were fairly lengthy that does not mean photos of every color Silkie should be added. Wikimedia Commons is linked to at the lower right of the article and that is where everyone should be adding pictures.


 * When I originally posted the above comment, this Wikipedia entry was little more that a gallery of photos and they didn't add much to the article so I removed all but one of them. The pictures that have since been added seem to be fairly relevant.Danny (talk) 20:24, 26 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, I've mostly changed my mind on this issue. Many articles now have a small gallery at the end of the article and I guess we could have one here for silkies too.Danny (talk) 15:05, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Chickenbreed Infobox
A new infobox Infobox Chickenbreed has been created for chicken articles. If you see anywhere it needs improved please contact User:Stepshep. If it meets your criteria it is requested you add it to this article's page for standardization. Thanks! §hep  •   ¡Talk to me!  17:04, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Food and drink Tagging
This article talk page was automatically added with WikiProject Food and drink banner as it falls under Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here. Maximum and careful attention was done to avoid any wrongly tagging any categories, but mistakes may happen... If you have concerns, please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 07:07, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Problems With The Article
As I was reading the article, I read a section which said silkies were good mothers but poor layers. That was where I had to disagree. I have 5 silkie hens myself and they all lay very well when they are not broody. I get about 4 eggs a day from my 5 silkie hens. If I had to only pick one breed to keep in my coop it would have to be the silkie because of how well they sit and lay. Just thought I should add this. 75.100.26.136 (talk) 19:42, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Controversies and research directions
There is disagreement within the literature about the hardiness of the the Silkie breed in tempoerature extremes. Author Carol Ekarius (Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds, 2007, p 158) claims Silkies do poorly out-of-doors in extreme hot or cold climates due to the structure of their feathers, while author Esther Verhoef (The Complete Encyclopedia of Chickens, 2003, p=231) claims that despite the impression their fluffy appearance may give, that this breed is very robust and impervious to the cold and the like.

My two hens and one rooster survived last year's -7 (Celsius) winter under a very rudimentary shelter without difficulties, shortly after which the two hens incubated a dozen eggs between them of which eleven hatched. Surely that must count as "doing well"; the only question is: is that cold enough to count as "extreme"? Old_Wombat (talk) 02:46, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Some images available
I own some silkies and can submit my own images, said images therefore not having any licensing issues. I have images of white hens, a partridge (colour) rooster (very close up and detailed because it is in a cage with the cage therefore visible) and some partridge chicks. But there seems to be a lack of consensus about whether we should have more images here or not, so I ask the question .... do we (want these images)? Old_Wombat (talk) 02:40, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

New Image
I have exchanged the image of a white silkie male for a full body image of better quality. Just to note. Anjwalker (talk) 10:30, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

" Among the most docile of poultry," - is this true???
Look, putting aside that Wikipedia is not about anecdotal articles, I wonder how far the above sentence is true. My partridge rooster is without a doubt the most aggressive chook I have ever owned, in over 40 years of poultry keeping. Our chicken run is also our vegetable garden, and whenever I go in there he immediately attacks me. For those who have seen the movie, it is comically reminiscent of Kato in the "Pink Panther" movies. The only way I can get any gardening done is to grab him when he attacks and then put him into a cage until I have finished.

Accepting that the hens are indeed very docile, is there any more general info about roosters? Do I have a one-off bully? Or is this common? Old_Wombat (talk) 08:50, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

I believe you have a one-off bully. All sources I can find online, as well as my own experience with them, has shown the article to be correct about the Silkies temperament. Anjwalker  Talk 09:19, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

"Popular culture" section
There's an edit war going on currently revolving around the "fluffy chicken" Tumblr post. Does this merit inclusion in the Silkie article? If so, how much? timothymh (talk) 03:32, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Better photo(s)?
Does anyone have a better photo of a Silkies foot? The one on the page is displaying terrible feathering (no inner toe feathering and sparse outer toe feathering) and overgrown toe nails which is hardly a great example of what the foot should look like. JTdale  Talk 15:22, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

Why the upper-case S?
Why is the word silkie written with an upper-case S throughout this article? It is an ordinary noun, not a proper noun, isn't it? Surely it should be silkie, not Silkie, except when it is the first word of a sentence. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.211.33.66 (talk) 09:08, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
 * It's the name of a breed, and in Wikipedia (as just about everywhere else) we capitalise breed names. Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 10:34, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Who said China was your country of origin?
It is totally wrong to put that they are from Japan not from China--177.226.233.9 (talk) 18:29, 12 February 2022 (UTC)