Silkie

Silkie
	A white Silkie hen
Other names	Silky; Chinese silk chicken
Country of origin	China
Traits
Weight	Male: 0.9–1.4 kg (2–3 lb); Female: 0.7–0.9 kg (1+1⁄2–2 lb);
Skin color	black or brown or blue
Egg color	cream or tinted
Comb type	walnut
Classification
APA	Asiatic
PCGB	Soft Feather: Light
	Chicken; Gallus gallus domesticus;

Last updated August 25, 2024

The Silkie (also known as the Silky or Chinese silk chicken) is a Chinese breed of chicken named for its atypically fluffy plumage, which is said to feel like silk and satin. The breed has several other unusual qualities, such as black skin and bones, blue earlobes, and five toes on each foot, whereas most chickens have only four. They are often exhibited in poultry shows, and also appear in various colors. In addition to their distinctive physical characteristics, Silkies are well known for their calm and friendly temperament. It is among the most docile of poultry. Hens are also exceptionally broody, and care for young well. Although they are fair layers themselves, laying only about three eggs a week, they are commonly used to hatch eggs from other breeds and bird species due to their broody nature. Silkie chickens have been bred to have a wide variety of colors which include but are not limited to: Black, Blue, Buff, Partridge, Splash, White, Lavender, Paint and Porcelain.

History

It is unknown exactly where or when these fowl with their singular combination of attributes first appeared, but the most well documented point of origin is ancient China. Other places in Southeast Asia have been named as possibilities, such as India and Java.^[1] The earliest surviving Western written account of Silkies comes from Marco Polo, who wrote of a "furry" chicken in the 13th century during his travels in Asia.^[3] In 1598, Ulisse Aldrovandi, a writer and naturalist at the University of Bologna, Italy, published a comprehensive treatise on chickens which is still read and admired today. In it, he mentions "wool-bearing chickens" and ones "clothed with hair like that of a black cat".^[4]

Silkies most likely made their way to the West via the Silk Route and maritime trade. The breed was recognized officially in North America with acceptance into the Standard of Perfection in 1874.^[1] Once Silkies became more common in the West, many myths were perpetuated about them. Early Dutch breeders told buyers they were the offspring of chickens and rabbits,^[3] while sideshows promoted them as having actual mammalian fur.^[5]

In the 21st century, Silkies are one of the most popular and ubiquitous ornamental breeds of chicken. They are often kept as ornamental fowl or pet chickens by backyard keepers, and are also commonly used to incubate and raise the offspring of other chickens and waterfowl like ducks, geese and game birds such as quail and pheasants.^[1]

Characteristics

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. Almost all North American strains of the breed are bantam-sized, but in Europe the standard-sized is the original version. However, even standard Silkies are relatively small chickens, with the males weighing only 1.8 kilograms (4 pounds), and females weighing 1.4 kg (3 lb).^[3] The American Standard of Perfection calls for males that are 1 kg (36 oz), and females that are 900 g (32 oz).^[1]

Silkie plumage was once unique among chicken breeds, however in recent years silkie feathering has been developed in several breeds, mostly notably the Chabo, where it is now standardised in Britain and the Netherlands.^[6]^[7] It has been compared to silk,^[8] and to fur. The overall result is a soft, fluffy appearance. Their feathers lack functioning barbicels, and are thus similar to down on other birds. This characteristic leaves Silkies unable to fly.^[1]

Silkies appear in two distinct varieties: bearded and non-bearded. Bearded Silkies have an extra muff of feathers under the beak area that covers the earlobes. They also are separated according to color. Colors of Silkie recognized for competitive showing include black, blue, splash, lavender, buff, grey, partridge, and white. Alternative hues, such as cuckoo, mottled, chocolate, mauve, mille fleur, and red, are in various stages of development and/or awaiting official recognition. The standards of perfection call for all Silkies to have a small walnut-shaped comb, dark wattles, and turquoise-blue earlobes. In addition to these defining characteristics, Silkies have five toes on each foot. Other breeds which exhibit this rare trait include the Dorking, Faverolles, Houdan, and Sultan.^[3]

All Silkies have black or bluish skin, bones and grayish-black meat; they are in the group of Chinese fowls known by the Chinese language name of wu gu ji (烏骨雞^[9]), meaning 'black-boned chicken'.^[8] More specifically, the Silkie breed itself is named Taihe wu ji (泰和乌鸡), 'black-boned chicken from Taihe'.^[10] Other wu gu ji may not share characteristics of the Taihe breed, such as the mulberry comb, white fur, blue ears, and polydactyly.

Melanism which extends beyond the skin into an animal's connective tissue is a rare trait, and in chickens it is caused by fibromelanosis, which is a rare mutation believed to have begun in Asia. The Silkie and several other breeds descended from Asian stock possess the mutation.^[11] Disregarding color, the breed does not generally produce as much as the more common meat breeds of chicken.^[1]

Bantams

In the American Standard of Perfection , the standard male weight for the bantam Silkie is 1 kg (35 oz) and for the female, 900 g (32 oz).^[12] The Australian Poultry Standard and British Poultry Standard call for Silkie bantams much smaller; in the Australian, the standard weights are 680 g (25 oz) for males and 570 g (20 oz) for females.^[13] The British standard weight for bantam Silkies is 600 g (22 oz) for males, and 500 g for females (18 oz).^[14]

Polydactyly

Silkies are also known for their polydactyly, usually manifesting as an additional 1–2 digits in the foot. The genetic cause of this extra digit formation has been shown to be a SNP in a regulator of the SHH gene, called the ZPA Regulatory Sequence (ZRS).^[15]^[16] This causes ectopic SHH expression in the anterior of the developing limb bud, leading to increased tissue growth and digits. While the feet of the Silkie display polydactyly, the wings have the standard tridactyly (three digit) arrangement. The Japanese Silkie initially develops additional digits in the wing as an embryo, but these are lost prior to hatching.^[17] The genetic cause behind Silkie polydactyly differs from those that cause polydactyly in the Dorking chicken breed, which is due to ectopic FGF4 expression in the AER, with ectopic SHH a secondary effect.^[18]

Use

Silkies lay a fair number of eggs, ranging from white to cream or light tan, but production is often interrupted due to their extreme tendency to go broody. A silkie hen can produce 100 eggs in an ideal year. Their capacity for incubation, which has been selectively bred out of most fowl bred especially for egg production, is often exploited by poultry keepers by allowing Silkies to raise the offspring of other birds.^[3]

In cuisine

Silkie soup sold in Bukit Batok, Singapore Wu Ji Tang .JPG — Silkie soup sold in Bukit Batok, Singapore

The black meat of a Silkie is generally considered an unusual attribute in European and American cuisines.^[8] In contrast, several Asian cuisines consider Silkie meat a gourmet food. Chinese cuisine especially values the breed, but it is also a common ingredient in some Japanese, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Korean dishes. Areas where Chinese cuisine has a strong influence, such as Malaysia, may also cook Silkie. As early as the 7th century, traditional Chinese medicine has held that chicken soup made with Silkie meat is a curative food.^[8] The usual methods of cooking include using Silkie to make broth, braising, and in curries. Traditional Chinese soup made with Silkie also uses ingredients such as wolfberries, Dioscorea polystachya (mountain yam), aged dried citrus peel, and fresh ginger.^[19] A few fusion restaurants in metropolitan areas of the West have also cooked it as a part of traditional American or French cuisine, such as in confit.^[8]

Related Research Articles

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, eggs or feathers. The practice of raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes. The term also includes waterfowls of the family Anatidae but does not include wild birds hunted for food known as game or quarry.

The American Game is an American breed of game fowl, chickens bred specifically for cockfighting. It has many color varieties, and may also be kept for ornament.

A comb is a fleshy growth or crest on the top of the head of some gallinaceous birds, such as domestic chickens. The alternative name cockscomb reflects the fact that combs are generally larger on cock birds than on hens. The comb is one of several fleshy protuberances on the heads of chickens, the others being the wattles and earlobes, which collectively are called caruncles. In turkeys, the caruncles are the fleshy nodules on the head and throat.

The Sussex is a British breed of dual-purpose chicken, reared both for its meat and for its eggs. Eight colours are recognised for both standard-sized and bantam fowl. A breed association, the Sussex Breed Club, was organised in 1903.

The Japanese Bantam or Chabo is a Japanese breed of ornamental chicken. It is a true bantam breed, meaning that it has no large fowl counterpart. It characterised by very short legs and a large upright tail that reaches much higher than the head of the bird.

The Rosecomb is a breed of chicken named for its distinctive comb. Rosecombs are bantam chickens, and are among those known as true bantams, meaning they are not a miniaturised version of a large fowl. Rosecombs are one of the oldest and most popular bantam breeds in showing, and thus have numerous variations within the breed. An ornamental chicken, they are poor egg layers and not suited for meat production.

The Sebright is a British breed of bantam chicken. It is a true bantam – a miniature bird with no corresponding large version – and is one of the oldest recorded British bantam breeds. It is named after Sir John Saunders Sebright, who created it as an ornamental breed by selective breeding in the early nineteenth century.

The Houdan or Poule de Houdan is an old French breed of domestic chicken. It is named for its area of origin, the commune of Houdan, in the département of Yvelines to the west of Paris. It belongs to the crested chicken group, is muffed and bearded, has an unusual leaf-shaped comb, and has five toes on each foot rather than the usual four.

The Dutch Bantam is a breed of bantam chicken originating in the Netherlands. It is a true bantam, a naturally small bird with no related large fowl from which it was miniaturized. It is kept mainly for exhibition, and has been bred in many color varieties; it is a good layer of small eggs.

The Rhode Island White is a breed of chicken originating in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Despite their very similar names and shared place of origin, the Rhode Island White is a distinct breed from the Rhode Island Red. However, Rhode Island Reds and Whites can be bred together to create Red Sex-Link hybrid chickens, such as the ISA Brown. In Australia, the Rhode Island White is regarded as a color variety of the Rhode Island breed according to the Australian Poultry Standards.

The Delaware is an American breed of chicken with an unusual plumage pattern. It was developed in the state of Delaware in the mid-twentieth century, and was initially known as the Indian River. It was briefly of some importance in the American chicken industry, until it was superseded by the common industrial Cornish Rock cross.

The Java is a breed of chicken originating in the United States. Despite the breed's name, a reference to the island of Java, it was developed in the U.S. from chickens of unknown Asian extraction. It is one of the oldest American chickens, forming the basis for many other breeds, but is critically endangered today. Javas are large birds with a sturdy appearance. They are hardy, and are well-suited for both meat and egg production, especially by small-scale farms, homesteads, and backyard keepers.

The Iowa Blue is a breed of chicken that originated near Decorah, Iowa, in the early twentieth century. Despite its name, the breed is not actually blue according to poultry standards. It is an exceedingly rare fowl, and is not recognized for showing by the American Poultry Association. They are a dual-purpose breed laying brown eggs and known to be good foragers.

The Orloff is a breed of chicken named after Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov, a Russian Count. Reflecting this origin, it is sometimes called the Russian Orloff or simply Russian.

The Derbyshire Redcap is a breed of chicken originating in the English county of Derbyshire. The name "Redcap" derives from the breed's unusually large Rose-type comb. British breed standards dictate a length of more than 7 centimetres (3 inches) of length for a Redcap comb. It is covered in small, fleshy points, and has a distinct spike pointing backwards called a "leader". Combs, wattles and earlobes are all ideally bright red.

The Scots Grey is a dual-purpose breed of domestic chicken originating in Scotland, where it has been bred for more than two hundred years. It was formerly known as the Scotch Grey and until about 1930 was popular in Scotland. It is on the "Native Poultry Breeds at Risk" list of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

The Vorwerk is a breed of chicken originating in Germany. Though it is unrelated to the German company which produces the Vorwerk vacuum cleaner, it is the only chicken to share its name with a brand of household appliance. A rare fowl, it has distinctive black-and-gold plumage.

Broodiness is the action or behavioral tendency to sit on a clutch of eggs to incubate them, often requiring the non-expression of many other behaviors including feeding and drinking. Being broody has been defined as "Being in a state of readiness to brood eggs that is characterized by cessation of laying and by marked changes in behavior and physiology". Broodiness is usually associated with female birds, although males of some bird species become broody and some non-avian animals also show broodiness.

Ginseng chicken soup is a type of soup, which involves chicken and ginseng as one of the main ingredients. Ginseng can typically be cooked with chicken in broth, porridge, and soups. Varieties of ginseng chicken soup can be found in Asian countries, such as China, Malaysia, and Korea.

References

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↑ Dunlop, Fuchsia (2003). Land of Plenty. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 236, 372. ISBN 0-393-05177-3.
↑ "泰和乌鸡泰和乌鸡的品种特征 (Breed characteristics of Taihe black-bone chicken)". www.ncZfj.com. Noncun Zhifu Jing. December 25, 2017. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
↑ "Genetic study of black chickens shed light on mechanisms causing rapid evolution in domestic animals". ScienceDaily. December 22, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
↑ "Bantam Silkie Standard". American Poultry Association. Archived from the original on 2017-08-05.
↑ Australian Poultry Standard. Victorian Poultry Association. 1998.
↑ "British Poultry Standard for Silkies". Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 2011-10-26.
↑ Dunn, I. C.; Paton, I. R.; Clelland, A. K.; Sebastian, S.; Johnson, E. J.; et al. (May 2011). "The chicken polydactyly (Po) locus causes allelic imbalance and ectopic expression of Shh during limb development". Developmental Dynamics. 240 (5): 1163–1172. doi:10.1002/dvdy.22623. PMID 21465618. S2CID 9641673.
↑ Lettice, L. A.; Horikoshi, T.; Heaney, S. J.; van Baren, M. J.; van der Linde, H. C.; et al. (May 2002). "Disruption of a long-range cis-acting regulator for Shh causes preaxial polydactyly". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 99 (11): 7548–7553. Bibcode:2002PNAS...99.7548L. doi: 10.1073/pnas.112212199 . PMC 124279 . PMID 12032320.
↑ Arisawa, K.; Yazawa, S.; Atsumi, Y.; Kagami, H.; Ono, T. (January 2006). "Skeletal Analysis and Characterization of Gene Expression Related to Pattern Formation in Developing Limbs of Japanese Silkie Fowl". Journal of Poultry Science. 43 (2): 126–134. doi: 10.2141/jpsa.43.126 .
↑ Bouldin, C. M.; Harfe, B. D. (May 2011). "Aberrant FGF signaling, independent of ectopic hedgehog signaling, initiates preaxial polydactyly in Dorking chickens". Developmental Biology. 334 (1): 133–141. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2009.07.009 . PMID 19616534.
↑ Wong, Yvonne (January 17, 2007). "Recipe: Black-Skinned Chicken Soup". The New York Times . Retrieved June 23, 2008.