Silkie Toes

I had really given up on having silkies this year because it seemed like there was just no way to get them.  Farmer Travis couldn't get them for me, online was sold out until late summer, and shipping from everywhere else was a fortune.  Well....that was until we moseyed on in to the Tractor Supply one evening and there, there they stood, well, more like ran frantically, in a tub full of about a hundred other chicks marked "mixed bantams."  I absolutely had to have them.  But how did I know they were in fact silkies? I made my judgment based upon the line of fluff that ran down their legs of course!  After bringing them home, I noticed that another one of our chicks that we had purchased on a different occasion, had fluff running down her legs and began to question if my new babies were in fact silkies.  I posted a picture of them on Backyard Chickens and asked "Are these silkies?" The first response I received  was "Do they have five toes?" Uh oh.  I went out to the garage and had a peek at both silkies feet and sure enough......five toes.  Pheww! So for all of you who are new to this like me and trying to pinpoint a silkie in a tub full of hundreds of bantam chicks, here's what you need to look for.

Silkie chicken feet have five toes!

Silkie chicken feet have five toes!