Chocolate Silkie (Large Fowl) Breed Information
We are a member of the
Silkie Club of Great Britain
and keep abreast of all the latest news regarding this breed. This
helps us maintain our high standards and great show results with
this breed. You can also become a member of this club for under £10
per year. By joining you will receive an annual newsletter and year
book. You will also receive a Rules and Standard for breeding
quality
Silkies, a members list, history of the
breed information and this way you will be helping to encourage and
improve the breeding of
Silkies for
exhibition and utility purposes as well as having access to
assistance from
expert breeders. The club will keep
you posted with all the latest information and show results
regarding this breed. For more information on how to join
contact us.
Please look here for Lots More Pictures of our show standard chickens and check
out my You Tube Channel to watch some
Poultry breeds videos .
Origin: Eastern Asia, (China, Java, India or Japan). Their
ancestry is unknown but they are believed to be the ‘furry chickens’
referred to by Marco Polo in his book ‘The Travels’ wrote in 1599.
Classification: Light: Soft feather
Egg Colour: Tinted
or cream
General Characteristics: Male
Carriage: Stylish, compact and lively.
Type: Body is broad and stout looking. Back short, saddle
silky and rising to the tail, stern broad and abundantly covered
with fine fluff, saddle hackles soft, abundant and flowing. Breast
broad and full. Shoulders stout, square, and fairly covered with
neck hackles. Wings are soft and fluffy at the shoulders, ends of
the flights are ragged and ‘osprey plumage’ (i.e. some strands of
the flight hanging loosely downward). Tail short and very ragged at
the end of the harder feathers of the tail proper. It should not be
flowing for forming a short round curve.
Head: Short and neat, with a good crest, soft and full, as
upright as the comb will permit, and having half a dozen to a dozen
soft, silky feather streaming gracefully backwards from the lower
back part of the crest to a length of around 1½ inches (3.75cm). The
crest proper should not show any hardness of feather. Beak short and
broad at the base. Eyes are brilliant black and not too prominent.
Comb almost circular in shape, preferably broader than long and with
a number of small prominences over it and having a slight
indentation or furrow transversely across the middle. The face is
smooth. Ear-lobes are more oval than round. Wattles concave, nearly
semi-circular, not long or pendant.
Neck: Short or medium length, broad and full at base with the
hackle being abundant and flowing.
Legs & Feet: Free from
scaliness. Thighs are wide apart and legs are short. No hard
feathers on the hocks but a profusion of soft silky plumage is
admissible. Thighs covered with abundant fluff. The feathers on the
legs should be moderate in quantity. Five toes all feathered with
soft feathers.
Plumage: Very silky and fluffy with a profusion of hair-like
feathers.
General Characteristics: Female -
Saddle broad and well cushioned with the silkiest of plumage which
should nearly smother the small tail. The ragged ends alone
protruding from the tail and inclined to be ‘Cochiny’ in appearance.
The legs are particularly short in the female and the underfluff and
thigh fluff should nearly meet the ground. The head crest is short
and neat, like a powder puff with no hard feathers, nor should the
eye be hidden by the crest, which should stand up and out, not split
by the comb. Ear-lobes small and roundish. Wattles are either absent
or very small and oval in shape. Comb is small. Other
characteristics are similar to those of the male, except for other
natural sexual differences.
Colour: Chocolate brown all over. The beak should be brownish. Eyes
are black. Comb, face and wattles are mulberry. Ear-lobes are
turquoise blue or mulberry with turquoise being preferred. Legs and
feet lead. Nails are blue-white and the skin is mulberry.
Weight: Large Fowl
Male: Not less than 4 lb (1.81kg) Female: Not less than 3 lb
(1.36kg)