Often in the farms of amateur poultry farmers you can find a completely amazing, even unique bird. It is about such a breed of chickens - Chinese silk, that we want to tell 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. The 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, poultry was grown both decorative 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 decorative and exhibition, in every possible way developed it in this direction. In our country, silk (as we call them) is not considered 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 indigenous, and the second is contained in Europe and America as an ornamental breed.
Chinese silk hens: description
This breed of birds has some unique abilities that make them completely special, unlike creatures of their kindred. In the homeland of these hens they call “hens with crow's bones” because they have black bones, black-brown skin and grayish-black meat. Often they are called black silk. It is believed that this is due to the fact that the natural pigment eumelanin penetrates into the musculoskeletal tissue. A distinctive feature of chickens is the fact that they have five clearly spaced toes.
According to the description of the breed, Chinese silk hens differ from ordinary ones in their plumage, which is more like the hairline of animals. The birds have a dense and strong body, which is abundantly covered with feather and down. The body is almost round, the back is wide, the shoulders protrude slightly forward, the legs are short, pubescent. The scallop and beak are blue, and the earlobes are turquoise. Pure-bred individuals may have a red-blue shade of earrings and a pink scallop. As for the color of feathers, the main color of Chinese silk chicken should be considered black. The hens are small in size, weighing only 2.1 kg, the cockerels are slightly larger. But due to the fact that they have abundant pubescence, visually they seem larger. There are dwarf silk, which are similar in characteristics to benthos. The native species of this bird, as a rule, is much larger.
We bring to your attention the characteristic of Chinese silk chicken: the birds are flexible, they are friendly and calm, they are not afraid of people. Very often they can be found in contact zoos. By the way, the fluff of Chinese chickens is very much appreciated. Haircuts are carried out once a month, receiving from one individual up to 70 grams of fluff, which is further used for knitting. This species of exotic bird is appreciated far not because of egg laying. Chinese silk chicken a year can produce about 100 eggs weighing about 40 grams. However, their mothers are the best. Chicken of this breed can sit its own, as well as pheasants and quail eggs.
Permissible plumage color:
- White. In this color, slight yellowness is allowed, but the presence of feathers of a different color is completely unacceptable.
- The black. In this case, a brown or slightly reddish tint is considered a defect.
- Blue. The uniform color of a blue shade is meant. The rooster has a lower back, a mane of a more saturated color.
- Wild coloring. In chicken and rooster, it is significantly different: in a cock a dark brown head, back, shoulders, lower back and mane are dark golden, chest, legs, belly, tail feathers are black. The chicken is almost all dark brown, only on the chest and head there are small inclusions of chestnut color.
- Red. Only a uniform, monotonous red color is allowed.
- Yellow. Only valid for the bearded variety of this breed of chickens.
The difference between a rooster and a chicken
Like most other breeds of birds, where females and males differ, there are such differences in chicken and rooster of Chinese silk breed. First of all, the chicken has a smaller body and head size, it has a more accurate scallop and earrings, the neck is a little shorter, and the body is even more rounded. In addition, the chicken has more magnificent plumage in the lower back and lower legs. The cockpit has more developed feathers of wings and tail.
Varieties of breed
Inside the breed of silk Chinese 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 magnificent beard, which gradually turns into tanks. The lobes are completely covered in down. Only the bearded look has a yellow hue.
Care and maintenance rules
When keeping Chinese silk chickens, no special conditions are required. Breeding and caring for this exotic breed is practically no different from the same events for domestic breeds. We offer you to familiarize yourself with the basic standard care requirements:
- feeding must be done only with high-quality feed and in a timely manner;
- comply with sanitary standards in poultry rooms;
- in winter, hens of Chinese silk breed must be provided with heat and light;
- for walking, birds should be provided with their own pen to protect them from predators.
By the way, silk hens can easily do without walking. Particular attention should be paid to humidity readings in the room where the hens are kept. It should be noted that the special structure of the feather of silk makes them especially 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 is kept in the premises, increased humidity prevails. For this reason, the litter gets wet and dirty quickly. Chinese silk chickens live without conflict in the vicinity of ordinary breeds. When keeping a family of birds, there should be 5-6 chickens per cockerel.
Feeding
Despite its exotic appearance, chickens of this breed are very unpretentious in nutrition, but still, when feeding, some nuances must be observed. Consider the rules of nutrition:
- When compiling a diet for poultry, it is necessary to introduce up to 55% of dry grain into it; it is recommended to mix several types, for example, you can choose wheat, barley and rye;
- in order to make the coat 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 and affect the productivity of animals;
- in winter, it is necessary to give dry grass, hay, as well as vitamin supplements, fish, shell and bone meal at least 4-5 times a week;
- when feeding with wet mixers with the inclusion of boiled vegetables, they should be given only in a warm form;
- in summer, fresh green grass should be included in the menu.
Chickens
It should be noted that, unlike an adult bird, chickens of Chinese silk chicken need to be given special attention. The most important parameters for raising chicks are considered to be a balanced diet and compliance with the temperature regime.
When the chicks are born, half the size of ordinary chickens, therefore, due to the too small growth of the babies, a temperature difference should not be allowed. From the very beginning, it is necessary to maintain a temperature of about +30 degrees, which is gradually reduced. At that time, when the chickens turn one month old, it can be +18 degrees. You should know that the temperature can be reduced no more than 3 degrees per week. Otherwise, the disease of the chicks and even their death is possible.
The chicks should be fed every two hours, and by the age of 30 days the chicks can be three hours apart. During the first month of life, the chickens are fed with sacks of cottage cheese, boiled chopped eggs with the addition of greens. It is necessary to include vitamins. Then, semolina and corn grits are gradually added to the diet, and after 2 months the chicks are transferred to grain feed. Care must be taken to ensure that chickens have free access to clean drinking water.
Product value
In the homeland of poultry - 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 larger 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, headache and other diseases. Dishes made from black chicken meat are more tender and do not contain fat.
Breeding
There are two ways to breed this unique bird: buy eggs from Chinese silk chickens, and then breed chickens in an incubator or under a brood 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 healthy livestock, interbreeding must not be allowed, therefore 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 purebred breeding. The period of incubation or incubation of eggs lasts for 21 days. After all the chickens have hatched, they and their mother are placed in a separate cage or aviary, and after they grow up a little, the mother is released into the common yard.
Disease
Like all farm animals and birds, silk chickens are susceptible to various diseases. Very often chickens are attacked by parasitic insects, down-eaters, ticks and fleas. If humidity indicators are not observed in the room where the young growth is located, the bird quickly becomes weaker and most often dies. Adults of this species have the following number of diseases:
- pulmonary system viruses;
- rickets;
- poisoning;
- inflammatory processes in the digestive tract;
- infectious intestinal viruses;
- coccidiosis;
- worm infection.
Prevention
In order to prevent all of the above diseases, the following precautions must be observed:
- First of all, a more responsible attitude to maintaining cleanliness in the chicken coop;
- provide the bird with a benign feed with sufficient vitamins included in it;
- 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, carry out prophylaxis. In fact, silk "Chinese" with good care are practically not sick, even if they live in a harsh Russian climate.
Selection
A little attention should be paid to the results of crossing Chinese silk with other breeds. This method of poultry breeding 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. Using the following crossing options, get:
- with orpingtones and brahms achieve weight gain;
- with araucans they get larger green eggs;
- with yurlovskie, rhode islands, leggorny increase the weight of the egg;
- with sussex receive autosex chickens (from birth distinguishable by gender).
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; buying the chickens themselves is considered equally costly.