Coop Companion

Silkie: The Broody Bantam with Black Skin and Five Toes

Verified September 2026Cream eggCream eggs

The short version

The Silkie is a crested, feather-legged bantam prized for its fur-like plumage and its legendary broodiness — it is the poultry world's go-to natural incubator, routinely used to hatch and raise other breeds' eggs, and hens will even sit on an empty nest. It lays a small cream (lightly tinted) egg, around 100–120 a year. Its breed hallmarks are five toes, black skin, bones, and flesh (fibromelanosis), a walnut comb, silkied feathering with no holding barbs, and feathered feet. Shown in the APA's Feather Legged Bantam class, it comes in Bearded and Non-Bearded forms across seven recognized colors.
APA class: Feather Legged Bantam
Egg color: Cream–Tinted
Broodiness: Frequently broody
Varieties: 14

Egg-color genetics

Silkie eggs are a small cream-to-tinted shell — there is no blue or green pigment involved, just a light brown (protoporphyrin) surface tint over a pale base, which reads as cream. Shell color is not what the Silkie is bred for; hens lay roughly 100–120 eggs a year and stop repeatedly to go broody, so egg output stays low and the shade is fairly consistent within a line.

Why Silkies are the go-to broody hen

If you keep a breed that refuses to sit — many modern layers and lightweight bantams have had broodiness bred out — a couple of Silkie hens solve the problem. Silkies go broody readily, sit tight through the full incubation, and are famously gentle mothers that will brood and raise chicks (and even ducklings) that aren't their own. This is why breeders keep them as living incubators alongside their machines.

The trade-off is eggs: a hen that is forever setting isn't laying. Expect only about 100–120 small cream eggs a year from a Silkie, with long broody breaks. Keepers who want both hatching help and a steady egg supply pair Silkies with a productive laying breed rather than relying on the Silkie for the egg basket.

What makes a Silkie a Silkie

Five traits define the breed and all should be present: silkied plumage (feathers whose strands lack the tiny hooks that zip normal feathers together, giving a fur- or hair-like coat), five toes instead of four, black skin and bones from fibromelanosis, a walnut comb of dark mulberry color, and feathering down the legs and outer toes. A crest (topknot) sits on the head, and Bearded birds add a muff and beard around the face.

Breeding notes

  • Breed to the five signature traits at once: five toes (not four), a mulberry walnut comb, black skin and shanks from fibromelanosis, silkied plumage that lacks the barbicels that hold normal feathers together, and well-feathered feet including the middle and outer toes. A bird missing any one of these reads as impure or off-type in the pen.
  • Fibromelanosis is the gene that turns skin, bone, and connective tissue dark slate to black; select for even, deep pigment in the skin, face, and shanks. Pink or light patches, or a light comb, are faults to cull against.
  • Keep Bearded and Non-Bearded lines separate — they are distinct show varieties. Bearded birds carry a muff-and-beard that fills the face below the eyes; crossing the two muddies the beard expression and the head furnishings you're selecting for.
  • Silkied feathering plus a heavy crest and foot feathering means Silkies do not fly and get chilled or soiled easily; breed and house on clean, dry bedding and protect the crest and foot feather from mud so breeding stock stays in condition.
  • The Silkie is famously the breeder's living incubator: because hens go broody so readily and are gentle, attentive setters, keepers across many breeds keep a few Silkie hens purely to hatch and brood eggs from birds that won't sit — from bantams up to duck and pheasant eggs. Plan your flock around this rather than expecting steady egg numbers.

Showing notes

  • Silkies are exhibited in the APA's Feather Legged Bantam class and entered by color and by beard status — for example 'Bearded White Silkie' or 'Non-Bearded Partridge Silkie'. Recognized colors are Black, Blue, Buff, Gray, Partridge, Splash, and White.
  • Grooming is about the fluff and the crest: wash the bird several days ahead so the silkied plumage dries full and bright, keep white varieties spotlessly clean and free of yellow staining, and shape a rounded crest (pouf) that shows the eyes on Bearded birds and a fuller topknot on the head. Clean and dry the foot feathering before the coop-up.
  • Judges look for a broad, compact, well-fluffed body, a neat walnut comb of mulberry color, dark face and skin, five distinct toes with the fourth and fifth well separated, and feathering on the outer toes. Split crests, four toes, red comb color, or white skin patches are the common downfalls.

Hatching & incubation

  • Silkie eggs incubate on the standard chicken schedule — 99.5–100°F forced-air, ~55–60% relative humidity, lockdown at day 18, and a 21-day hatch. The small egg size is the only real difference; nothing about the breed changes the timing.
  • The Silkie's real incubation quirk is the hen, not the egg: Silkie hens are the most reliable natural brooders in the hobby and will faithfully hatch a clutch of their own or fostered eggs. Because a broody Silkie is small, limit her to the number of eggs she can fully cover — often 4–6 large-fowl eggs.

Recognized varieties

Bearded BlackBearded BlueBearded BuffBearded GrayBearded PartridgeBearded SplashBearded WhiteNon-Bearded BlackNon-Bearded BlueNon-Bearded BuffNon-Bearded GrayNon-Bearded PartridgeNon-Bearded SplashNon-Bearded White

Frequently asked questions

What color eggs do Silkies lay?
Small cream to lightly tinted eggs — a pale, off-white shell with no blue or green pigment. Hens lay only about 100–120 a year because they stop so often to go broody.
Are Silkies good for showing?
Yes — they're a very popular exhibition breed, shown in the APA's Feather Legged Bantam class in Bearded and Non-Bearded forms across seven colors (Black, Blue, Buff, Gray, Partridge, Splash, White). Judges want full silkied fluff, five toes, dark skin and a walnut comb, and a clean, well-shaped crest.
How hard are Silkies to hatch?
No harder than any chicken — their eggs run the standard 21-day chicken schedule (99.5–100°F, lockdown day 18); they're just smaller. Better yet, a broody Silkie hen will hatch them for you, which is what the breed is best known for.
Why do Silkies have black skin and bones?
A genetic trait called fibromelanosis deposits extra dark pigment throughout the skin, flesh, and bones, giving Silkies their signature slate-black coloring. It's normal for the breed and doesn't affect the bird's health.
How many toes do Silkies have?
Five toes on each foot instead of the usual four — an extra digit at the back of the foot. Five well-formed, clearly separated toes are required in the show ring; four toes is a disqualifying fault.
Will a Silkie hen hatch other breeds' eggs?
Absolutely — that's their claim to fame. Silkies are the hobby's go-to natural incubator: they go broody readily and will faithfully sit on and raise fostered chicken, bantam, and even duck eggs. Keep her clutch to what her small body can fully cover (often 4–6 large eggs).

Sources

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