Silkie
Ornamental · China · 🌱 Beginner friendly
Silkies feel like kittens, mother like champions, and have been delighting people for at least 700 years. Their feathers lack the barbs that make normal plumage sleek, giving them that famous fur-like fluff — which also means they can't fly and shouldn't get soaked. They are the go-to broody hen for hatching anything.
Eggs per year
100–120
Egg color
Cream
Egg size
Small
Hen weight
2–3 lbs
Temperament
Exceptionally sweet and cuddly
Broodiness
Often broody
Did you know?
Under the fluff, Silkies have black skin, black bones, blue earlobes, and five toes — Marco Polo wrote home about "furry chickens" after his 13th-century travels in Asia.
Is the Silkie right for your flock?
Expect roughly 100–120 cream eggs a year from a healthy hen in her prime — production dips during molt and the short days of winter, and eases off as she ages. Planning space? A Silkie hen runs 2–3 lbs, so size the coop with our coop size calculator and estimate the feed bill with the feed cost calculator.
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Keeping Silkies?
Give every bird a profile in PoultryPal — track their eggs, weight, and life events, and see who's really your best layer.
