Silkie Bantam Chicken
Silkie Bantam Chickens are probably the most unusual looking of all the bantam breeds. They are feathered but this feathering doesn't advance past the chicks fluff so you end up with a bird that looks hairy rather than feathered. This makes them very soft and cuddly and popular with children but it should be noted that they are quite strong willed and are not particularly tolerant of being grabbed and squeezed by people.
Silkie Bantams, like Pekin Bantams, can get extremely broody on their eggs and whilst this does make them great mothers, it does pose a problem to the health of the hen.
They will gather up every egg they can find and sit on them until they hatch, if there are no cockerels in your flock then the eggs will never hatch so the hen should be dissuaded from doing this by making sure all eggs are removed each day and getting as much daylight into the nesting area as possible.
Silkie Bantams come in a few different colours but are generally a uniform colour rather then mixed. They will live with other breeds of Bantams and even some larger breeds but they do have different care requirements, they are not as tolerant to cold or wind and they are not water proof like other birds so they will need somewhere sheltered and enclosed to live. It can be difficult to add them to an existing older flock as their 'feathers' offer them little protection in a fight.
Silkie Bantams Chickens, are the hardest of all breeds to correctly sex and can't be done with 100% confidence until the birds are 6 months old. The males can have traditional cockerel features but a lot of the time they look identical to the females and they have the loudest crow of any Bantam breed.
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As well as their unique hairy appearance, they also have an extra toe on each foot, blue ears and black skin!
