Some people purchase chickens to have fresh eggs every morning. However, others get a pet or decorative chickens, like silkies, not knowing that they will lay eggs too. When this happens, these people may be unsure if it is okay to eat them.
It is safe to eat Silkie chicken eggs. They are smaller than regular chicken eggs but are the same in composition and nutrition. Silkie hens do not lay eggs every day like many other chicken breeds. Instead, they become broody quickly and will want to hatch their eggs.
Keeping silkie chickens is a lot of fun. However, some people think silkie chickens are different from other breeds and are unsure if their silkie hens will lay eggs.
Do Silkie Hens Lay Eggs You Can Eat?
Silkie hens lay eggs just like any other chicken. The eggs have a shell, a shell membrane, albumin (white), and egg yolk. They can be safely eaten and provide the same nutritional profile as other chicken eggs.
The size of the chicken breed often determines the egg size. For example, big breed chickens produce larger eggs and larger chicks when they hatch.
Chickens that are smaller in size lay smaller eggs, and their chicks also tend to be small.
Chicken breeds, such as Leghorns, lay eggs that weigh 2.4 ounces (70 grams). Brahmas lay eggs that, on average, weigh 2 ounces (56 grams), and the smaller cochins produce eggs of 1.5 ounces (49 grams).
As might be expected, silkie chicken eggs are small. They weigh in at about 1.2 ounces (35.4 grams). Their chicks are tiny and weigh only a few grams when they hatch.
How Often Do Silkie Chickens Lay Eggs?
While Silkie chickens don’t lay many eggs, only averaging two to three per week, they are still kept as pets. These chickens produce very small eggs, so you would need to eat two of them to get the same sustenance as a typical breakfast egg.
Silkie hens may stop laying in extreme weather conditions.
Egg production often decreases during winter as the natural cycle prompts hens to reproduce in spring and summer. Silkie hens will not lay while their feathers are molting.
Although silkie chickens are not good layers, they are excellent mothers. They usually want to brood their eggs and hatch them.
They will object to you taking their eggs if they are sitting on them. A sharp peck on your hand and wing flapping will be an attempt to chase you off.
Some chicken breeds are horrendous mothers that do not have the patience to sit on eggs for three weeks. Others show why they are called bird brains and cannot remember which nest to sit on.
This is where silkie hens come in. Many people keep silkie chickens to brood eggs from other chickens that do not sit well.
Silkie hens tend to their eggs, lovingly turning them when required and sitting until all the eggs have hatched.
What Color Are Silkie Chicken Eggs?
The color of chicken eggs is determined by genetics. Chicken eggs may be white, brown, pink, green, blue, or chocolate.
The pigment is laid down in the eggshell as it passes through the oviduct.
Blue eggs are pigmented high up in the oviduct and are blue inside and out. Brown eggs get a coating of pigment further down the oviduct and are only brown on the outside.
Silkie eggs are white to creamy white. They do not have any pigment coloring the shell and are white on both the inside and outside.
Will My Silkie Hen Lay Eggs If There Is No Rooster?
Silkie hens are like other hens and have a natural urge to lay eggs whether there is a rooster. They start laying eggs when they are older than most other chicken breeds.
It is not unusual for silkie hens to only begin laying eggs when they are ten to twelve months old. After they begin laying, the hen may initially be erratic in her egg production.
However, the silkie hen will reliably lay two or three eggs a week after a few months.
Can I Eat The Eggs If I Have A Silkie Rooster?
Many people are worried about eating eggs from their silkie hen if they have a rooster that has fertilized the eggs.
Even if a rooster mates with a chicken and the egg is fertile, a baby chick will not develop until the hen sits on the eggs. This is because the chicken eggs must have heat to allow the fetus to begin developing.
If you collect the silkie eggs every day, there will be no unpleasant surprises when you crack an egg.
The egg will resemble a regular egg, and you can eat it.
My Silkie Hen Is Sitting On Her Eggs – What Now?
If you have a rooster and your silkie hen begins sitting on eggs, congratulations, you will have cute little silkie balls of fluff in three weeks.
You do not need to provide any special care for the hen. She will leave the nest when needed to get food and water. Don’t disturb the hen while she is sitting.
If she leaves the nest to get food in the morning, you can quickly count the eggs. The hen will instinctively know how best to care for the eggs without your input.
Your silkie hen may become broody and start sitting when there is no rooster. In this case, the eggs are not fertilized and will never hatch.
You can remove the eggs and continue removing them daily. Some silkie hens will continue sitting even if there are no eggs to sit on.
Many people buy fertilized eggs for their silkie hen to brood and hatch if they do not own a rooster. You can slip the eggs under the broody silkie hen, and she will accept them as her own.
If you do not want to add to your flock, you can arrange with another chicken keeper and let your silkie hen hatch out chicks for them.
Final Word
Silkie chickens lay edible eggs that, though small, have the same appearance as regular chicken eggs.
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Sources
https://www.backyardchickencoops.com.au/blogs/learning-centre/silkies-a-comprehensive-guide