Silkie Chicken Breeding
The Silkie chicken breed is of Chinese origin and known for their unusual, fluffy, pom pom like appearance. Silkies by nature are a particularly placid breed of chicken making them favourable pets and exhibition birds alike.
Families often gravitate towards these friendly chooks as they’re easy to handle and children love being able to cuddle their fluffy feathers.
Whilst their eggs are tiny, they do lay approximately 150 a year which can be just enough to keep kids excited at the opportunity to collect their own eggs.
Even the roosters are fine in suburban backyards as they rarely crow and if they do it’s reasonably quiet.
Trev had pet silkies as a child and rediscovered his love of owning them in 2020. Since then, they have become a successful breed at the TPATH farm with ribbons immediately under their belt at their first show appearance in 2023.
In early 2025 our newest Silkie breeding line will become a part of our backyard layer range. They will be available in a range of colours and are very friendly in nature.
Our cockerels and roosters all have the trademark striking blue earlobes and shiny charcoal skin.
Silkies are also fantastic brooders and mothers, making them very useful during breeding season at the farm. In the past we’ve put orphan chicks under them and found they act as great surrogate mothers as they aren’t aggressive and will let us handle chicks without a fight which makes managing them very easy.
Silkies don’t thrive in very hot climates and can require extra maintenance as their fluffy feathers can collect dirt and grime easily which can create knots. We recommend trimming the feathers around their vents if this becomes a problem.
They also should be penned in dry, protected coops or cages if the weather is particularly wet or their outdoor environment is very muddy.
Silkies aren’t big foragers and won’t travel very far from their coop. This means their claws will need regular trimming as they won’t wear them down themselves like other free ranging breeds.
