Chinese silk chicken: description and characteristics of the breed, keeping and breeding

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Often, in the farms of amateur poultry farmers, you can meet a completely amazing, even unique bird. It is about this breed of chickens - Chinese silk, that we want to talk about today. What is their uniqueness, how do they differ from other birds? This will be discussed in this article.

Origin

The breed of Chinese silk chickens is considered one of the oldest in the world. About a bird with black skin and absolutely amazing plumage has been known since the Middle Ages, from the very moment when Europeans first came to China. In this country, the bird was grown both for ornamental purposes and for the production of eggs and meat. Silk chicken came to Europe and America in the 18th-19th centuries, where it was considered only as a decorative and exhibition item, and it was developed in every possible way in this direction. In our country, silks (as we call them) are not considered as a productive bird. Although in China it is bred in industrial factories for the production of meat and eggs. Such a division led to the fact that two lines appeared: the first(productive) is called aboriginal, and the second is kept in Europe and America as a decorative breed.

Chinese silk chickens: description

This breed of birds has some unique abilities that make them very special, unlike their relatives creatures. In their homeland, these chickens are called "crow-bone chickens" because they have black bones, black-brown skin and grayish-black meat. They are often referred to as the black silk breed. It is believed that this is due to the fact that the natural pigment eumelanin penetrates into the musculoskeletal tissues. A distinctive feature of chickens is that they have five clearly spaced toes.

According to the description of the breed, Chinese silk chickens differ from ordinary ones in their plumage, which is more like animal hair. Birds have a dense and strong body, which is abundantly covered with feathers and down. The body is almost round, the back is wide, the shoulders slightly protrude forward, the legs are short, pubescent. The comb and beak are blue, and the earlobes are turquoise. Purebred individuals may have red-blue tints of earrings and a pink comb. As for the color of the feathers, the main color of the Chinese silk chicken should be considered black. Chickens are small in size, weighing only 2.1 kg, males are slightly larger. But due to the fact that they have abundant pubescence, visually they appear larger. There are also dwarf silk ones, which are similar in characteristics to bantams. The native species of this bird, asusually much larger.

We bring to your attention the characteristic of the Chinese silk chicken: the birds are distinguished by a complaisant character, they are friendly and calm, not afraid of people. They are often found in petting zoos. By the way, the fluff of Chinese chickens is highly valued. A haircut is carried out once a month, receiving from one individual up to 70 grams of fluff, which is later used for knitting. This type of exotic bird is valued not because of egg production. A Chinese silk hen can produce about 100 eggs in a year, weighing about 40 grams. However, mothers of them are the best. A hen of this breed can hatch her own, as well as pheasant and quail eggs.

Permissible plumage color:

1. White. With this color, a slight yellowness is allowed, but the presence of feathers of a different color is completely unacceptable.
2. Black. In this case, a brown or slightly reddish hue is considered a vice.
3. Blue. A uniform color of a blue tint is implied. The rooster has a lower back, a mane of a more saturated color.
4. Wild coloring. In a chicken and a rooster, it differs significantly: the cockerel has a dark brown head, back, shoulders, lower back and mane are dark golden, the chest, shins, belly, and tail feathers are black. The hen is almost all dark brown in color, only on the chest and head there are small inclusions of chestnut color.
5. Red. Only uniform, solid color red is allowed.
6. Yellow. Permissible only for the bearded variety of this breedchickens.

The difference between a rooster and a hen

As with most other breeds of birds, where females and males are different, there are such differences in the chicken and rooster of the Chinese silk breed. First of all, the chicken has a smaller body and head, it has a neater comb and earrings, a slightly shorter neck, and an even more rounded body. In addition, the chicken has more magnificent plumage in the lumbar region and lower legs. The cockerel has more developed flight feathers of the wings and tail.

Breed Varieties

Inside the breed of Chinese silk chickens, there are two subspecies: standard and bearded. The last individuals of this breed differ from the standard only in the structure of the head and color. They have a very lush beard, which gradually turns into sideburns. The lobes are completely covered with down. Only the bearded species has a yellow tint.

Rules of care and maintenance

When keeping Chinese silk chickens, no special conditions are required. Breeding and caring for this exotic breed is practically no different from the same activities for domestic breeds. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the basic standard care requirements:

• feeding should be done only with high-quality feed and in a timely manner;
• observe sanitary standards in poultry houses;
• Chinese silk chickens need to be provided with heat and light in winter;
• for walking birds, you should provide your own pen to protect them frompredators.

By the way, silk chickens can easily do without walking. Particular attention should be paid to the humidity readings in the room where the chickens are kept. It should be noted that the special structure of silk feathers makes them particularly sensitive to moisture. If water, falling on the feather of an ordinary bird, simply rolls off it, then in silk it passes through the fluff. That is why it is necessary to provide a dry room for this bird to live, as well as a dry range, which should be well protected from rain. It is not recommended to keep silks together with waterfowl, because when the latter are kept in the premises, high humidity prevails. For this reason, the litter quickly gets wet and dirty. Chinese silk chickens live without conflict next to ordinary breeds. When keeping birds in a family, there should be 5-6 hens per cockerel.

Feeding

Despite their exotic appearance, chickens of this breed are quite unpretentious in nutrition, but still, some nuances must be observed when feeding. Consider the rules of nutrition:

• when compiling a diet for poultry, it is necessary to introduce up to 55% dry grain into it, it is recommended to mix several types, for example, you can choose wheat, barley and rye;
• in order for the “fur coat” to be more elegant, it is necessary to treat the Chinese chicken with sunflower seeds, nettles and include oatmeal in the diet, however, it should be noted that these are rather fatty foods that can cause obesity andaffect animal productivity;
• during winter it is necessary to give dry grass, hay, as well as vitamin supplements, fish, shell and bone meal give at least 4-5 times a week;
• when feeding with wet mashes with the inclusion of boiled vegetables, they should only be given warm;
• in summer, fresh green grass should be included in the menu.

Chickens

It should be noted that, unlike adult birds, Chinese silk hen chicks need to be given special attention. The most important parameters for growing chicks are considered to be a complete balanced diet and temperature control.

When the chicks are born, they are half the size of ordinary chickens, therefore, due to the too small stature of the babies, temperature differences should not be allowed. From the very beginning, it is necessary to maintain a temperature of about +30 degrees, which is gradually reduced. At the time when the chickens are one month old, it can be +18 degrees. You should know that the temperature can be reduced by no more than 3 degrees per week. Otherwise, the chicks may become sick and even die.

Chicks should be fed every two hours, and by 30 days of age, chicks may be fed three hours. During the first month of life, chickens are fed with mashes containing cottage cheese, boiled chopped eggs with the addition of greens. Vitamins must also be included. Then semolina and corn grits are gradually added to the diet, and after 2 months of chickstransferred to grain feed. Ensure that chicks have free access to clean drinking water.

Product value

In the homeland of the bird - in China - the meat of Chinese silk chickens is much more valuable than decorative qualities. It is believed that it has a special composition and is healing. Unlike white, it is less nutritious, and it contains vitamins and amino acids. The composition of meat includes a greater amount of globulin, so it is recommended to use it for people suffering from anemia. Due to the fact that the product contains special substances, in Chinese medicine such meat is used to treat tuberculosis, headaches and other diseases. Dishes made with black chicken meat are more tender and contain no fat.

Breeding

There are two ways to breed this unique bird: buy eggs of Chinese silk hens, and then hatch the chickens in an incubator or under a hen, or buy chickens right away. It should be noted that the price of one hatching egg is about 250 rubles, and one chicken will cost you 300 rubles. In order to get a he althy stock, inbreeding must not be allowed, so it is necessary to buy a rooster from another nest. If Chinese silk chickens are kept together with birds of a different breed, then at the very beginning of spring they must be divided into families, thereby ensuring thoroughbred breeding. The period of incubation or incubation of eggs lasts for 21 days. After all the chicks hatch, they are togetherwith mom are placed in a separate cage or aviary, and after they grow up a little, mom is released into the common yard.

Diseases

Like all farm animals and birds, silk chickens are prone to various diseases. Very often, chickens are attacked by parasitic insects, downy eaters, ticks and fleas. If the humidity indicators in the room where the young are located are not observed, the bird quickly dies and most often dies. Adults of this species have the following range of diseases:

• viruses of the pulmonary system;
• rickets;
• poisoning;
• inflammatory processes in the digestive tract;
• infectious gut viruses;
• coccidiosis;
• worm infection.

Prevention

In order to prevent all of the above diseases, the following precautions must be observed:

• First of all, be more responsible about keeping the chicken coop clean;
• provide the bird with good-quality food with the inclusion of vitamins in sufficient quantities;
• make sure that there is always clean and fresh water in the drinkers;
• In winter, it is necessary to insulate the chicken coop.

As soon as you notice that one of the pets is sick, you must immediately call the veterinary service, and for the rest to carry out prevention. In fact, silk "Chinese" with good care practically do not get sick, even if they live in the harsh Russian climate.

Selection

You should pay a little attention to the results of crossing the Chinese Silk with other breeds. This method of breeding birds allows you to save the color of meat of a dark shade and significantly increase weight and egg production. In addition, this procedure allows you to avoid inbreeding with a lack of livestock. Applying the following crossing options, get:

• with Orpingtons and Brahms achieve weight gain;
• Araucans get bigger green eggs;
• with Yurlov, Rhode Island, Leghorns increase egg weight;
• with Susexes get autosex chicks (separable from birth).

Despite the fact that the bird of this exotic breed is not one hundred years old, they have remained a rarity in Europe. Buying eggs for incubation is too expensive, and buying the hens themselves is considered no less expensive.