For me it is a big advantage that silkies are resistant to the Polish winter. At minus 20 degrees they still roam around as enthusiastically as they do in plus 20 degrees. However, they do hate to walk in the snow. I keep the run free of snow in the winter as much as possible, sprinkle some straw in it and make sure there is a windfree corner where they can hide if the east wind makes them too much trouble. You don't have to be afraid of the silkies to freeze combs. The hens have no comb, the cock has a strawberry comb, in my eyes more than half a walnut above its beak which I take care of with acid free Vaseline when freezing firmly.
If I may believe the experts, this is not immediately necessary, but rather the certainty rather than the uncertainty. It seems like the rooster has brilliantine in his hair with such a lick of vaseline on his comb. Other special characteristics of the silkies are that their skin, meat and even bones are blue-black.
In addition, the silkie has 5 toes. Due to their feather structure, silkies cannot fly. A fence of 50 - 70 cm high keeps the animals inside the fence. If you want to place perches in the chickenshouses of the silkies, take care to keep this layer close to the ground. Perches are not really necessary. Silkies just sleep on the ground close together. Colors Silkies are bred in various colours, such as white, black yellow, polychrome, splash, pearl grey, red, buffalo and blue, but not every colour is recognised in every country and some colours of the large silkies are not recognised in the bantam variety and vice versa.
Silkies are very nice chickens. They are also tolerant of being picked up and fast movements. This makes them a great pet for young children, seniors, people with special needs and those who have no experience with chickens.
They are also very quiet. Some roosters never crow at all whilst others begin at around 7 months old. Silkies are happy to be confined in smaller areas compared to other breeds. They should be given time each day to roam around the yard and forage. They cannot fly and can jump a few feet into the air, meaning they can be kept behind fairly short fences.
The Somerzby Mansion will happily house up to six Silkies, with a ramp and low roosting poles to accommodate their needs. They are known for being hard to sex. Whilst breeders can try to guess if you are buying a male or female, it is not certain until they are six months old. If your Silkie gets wet, you will need to towel or blow dry it. If you do this regularly enough, most will begin to enjoy the experience.
The Somerzby Homestead has a run with a roof. This will allow your Silkies to roam undercover on rainy days without getting wet. Whilst they can handle temperatures down to 0 degrees Celsius. If it is too cold it may be a good idea to add heating to your coop or bring the chickens inside overnight. Somersby pet crates can be used to temporarily house chickens in these situations.
Toni has a lot of experience with keeping pets and pet enclsoures, with her very cheeky British shorthair cat named Charlie and a rescue cat Rosie who is now nearly Toni's pets also includes Dwarf Lop rabbits and Australorp cross Chickens. Your email address will not be published. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.
Learn how your comment data is processed. Remember me Log in. Lost your password? They are a commonly found, ornamental breed. Silkies are known for being fluffy! History Silkies are one of the oldest chicken breeds still in existence. People were amazed to see a furry looking chicken!
There are two sizes of Silkie: 1. The miniature or bantam Silkie - These are small with the males topping the scales at g 22ozs and hens at g 18ozs. Standard fowl - Large Fowl Silkies weigh in at 1. This is not the case everywhere in the world, some places only have the bantam. There are two other types as well, Silkies can also be bearded or without beards and showgirl Silkies have the naked neck gene. Showgirls are a modern sport of the Silkie and have become increasingly popular recently.
They are the result of crossing Transylvanian Naked Necks with Silkies. Silkies are considered a bantam breed in some countries, but this varies according to region and many breed standards class them officially as large fowl.
The bantam Silkie is actually a separate variety most of the time and as the size varies from region to region it can be very confusing. In the US only bantams are recognised, and there are very few that are larger than bantams. In other countries, different weights and standards apply. ALL Silkies began as bantams.
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