Purple chickens are real!
Lavender Silkie chickens are made up of everything wonderful about Silkies, plus a perfect pastel-purple rinse.
Of course, you’re intrigued! Why would you not be. Time to find out why the lavender Silkie is rare and sought after…
Lavender Silkie chickens are a relatively new variety of Silkie. They’ve been gracing poultry shows since the early 2000s but they’re not officially recognized by the American Poultry Association…yet!
They’re new, they’re rare, they’re gorgeous, and when it comes to their personalities they’re as sweet as pie, but they’re also complicated little lovelies!
It's their lusted-after lavender plumage that makes lavender Silkies so hard to find. They breed true, so it’s not keeping the lavender look that’s a problem. The by-product of their beauty is genetically weak feathers, and for the already fluffy Silkie chicken breed, this can become a BIG problem for breeders.
Lavender Silkie chickens make great backyard chickens, and are even suitable for beginners to care for, but only if they’ve been bred with care and attention.
A lavender Silkie chicken’s lineage makes a huge difference to its health.
Chickenpedia is the perfect place to learn how to recognize a healthy, happy chick before you head out to the hatchery to pick your chicks. You’ll find everything you need to know about buying healthy silkie chicks, what they need, and how to get loads of yummy eggs!
I’m about to explain what makes lavender Silkies lavender, what this means for them, and what it means for you:
What are Lavender Silkie Chickens?
Are Lavender Silkie Chickens & Self Blue Silkies Different?
Lavender Silkie Chickens Vs Andalusian Blue Silkie Chickens
Why Are Lavender Silkie Chickens Rare?
Breeding Lavender Silkie Chickens
The Lavender Gene in Chickens
What Is the Shredder Gene In Lavender Chickens?
Do Lavender Silkie Chickens Breed True?
Lavender Splash Silkies
Do Lavender Silkie Chickens Lay Purple Eggs?
Lavender Silkie Chicken Eggs
Which Chickens Lay Purple Eggs?
Where To Buy Lavender Silkies?
Caring For Lavender Silkie Chickens
Lavender Silkie Chicken Name Ideas
What are Lavender Silkie Chickens?
Lavender Silkie chickens have a lovely, soft, evenly toned lilac color to all of their fluffy feathers. They shouldn’t be blotchy or patchy, just light grey or pale blue all over with a lavish lilac sheen. A purple tint is the best way to describe their cluck look.
Lavender Silkie chickens are wonderfully wacky and have fluffy, feathery legs and five toes on each foot. They have fluffy little crests on their heads.
Like all varieties of Silkie, Lavender Silkie chickens have black skin, beaks, legs, toes, and bones. They also rock those Silkie-chic turquoise earlobes which pop against their purple plumage. Other than their rare lilac look, Lavender Silkie chickens share the same friendly temperament, bantam build, and egg productivity as any other Silkie.
Lavender Silkie chickens always have fluffy little beards. Most color varieties of Silkie are recognized in bearded or non-bearded varieties, but lavender, and splash Silkies must be brandishing a beard to be recognized within the APA standards. <You can read all about bearded Silkie chickens here><link to bearded silkie article>.
Lavender Silkie chickens are true bantams; they’ve always been petite little chickens. Lavender Silkie hens weigh 3 lbs and stand 8–10 inches tall, and lavender Silkie roosters weigh 4 lbs and stand 8-11 inches tall.
“One of the most popular and unique breeds of poultry is the Silkie chicken” (APA)
Are Lavender Silkie Chickens & Self-Blue Silkies Different?
Lavender Silkie chickens and self-blue Silkie chickens are the same thing. The recessive ‘lav’ gene involved in presenting that pale, slatey lavender feathering is also known as self-blue.
Lavender Silkie Chickens vs Andalusian Silkie Chickens
Lavender, or self-blue Silkie chickens are not the same as Silkie chickens that carry the Andalucian blue.
There are two blue genes involved in chicken breeding. One is the lavender (lav) or self-blue gene involved in breeding lavender Silkies which can also have health implications related to the structure of their feathers, and the other is known as the Andalucian blue gene and doesn’t impact feather quality or health in any way.
Why Are Lavender Silkie Chickens Rare?
Lavender Silkie chickens are rare because breeding healthy chicks is so darn challenging, meaning they are one of the hardest color varieties of Silkie chicken to locate.
The gene that produces the lavender color (lav) is recessive, so both Momma Hen and Papa Roo must carry it for their chick to rock that same purple rinse. Sounds simple enough…right? Wrong!
The lavender gene is a diluting gene that softens the pigmentation of black feathers. It’s also linked to issues with weak feather development, meaning that breeders need to constantly dilute the lavender gene and then breed it back in again to keep those lilac feathers looking lovely and functioning properly. You’ll hear the term ‘breeding back to black’, and that’s why people do this.
BREEDING LAVENDER SILKIE CHICKENS
The Lavender Gene in Chickens
Lavender Silkie chickens are genetically ‘washed out’ black Silkie chickens, where the black color gene has been diluted to give that light, lilac tone. It sounds like a bad hair day situation, but it took breeders decades to master the lavender look, and it’s beautiful.
The lavender gene was first discovered in the Porcelain variety of Belgian Bearded d’Uccles chickens in 1972, where its impact was diluting red to a buff, or porcelain color.
The "lavender" gene (lav) in the chicken causes the dilution of both black (eumelanin) and red/brown (phaeomelanin) pigments, so…on an extended black background, this condition causes the entire surface of the body an even shade of light slaty blue, which is the typical phenotype known as '"self-blue"'. (Wikipedia)
What is The Shredder Gene in Lavender Chickens?
The lavender Silkie’s lusted-after gene pool comes at a cost. A genetic mutation associated with the lavender gene can cause abnormal feather development. It’s sometimes called the shredder gene or the tail shredder gene. It means that their feathers look like they’ve been through a paper shredder, or like a soggy old feather scooped out of a puddle.
They look bad for sure, but worse than that they don’t offer any insulation or function for the chicken. It’s often noted to be associated to weaker chickens with multiple health issues.
Do Lavender Silkie Chickens Breed True?
Lavender Silkies are self-blue so they do breed true. If you breed a lavender pair, then you can eggs-pect little lavender peeps. Cute! 😍
Lavender Splash Silkies
Lavender Splash Silkies are stunning! They’re a mix of a Blue-Black-Splash Silkie (resulting from the Andalucian blue gene) and a lavender Silkie chicken (resulting from the self-blue gene).
“A Silkie that is lav/lav (Homozygous Self Blue) and Bl/Bl (Splash) can be called Self Blue Splash…Self Blue Splash males have an odd splotchy color that is neither Self Blue nor Splash. You’ll have a nice shade of light blue as the background color and a few dark blue feathers at irregular intervals on the coat. Self-Blue Splash females are a little prettier. They are less irregular looking than the Andalusian Splash females and almost look speckled.” (Inga Ladd & Alan Stanford, Ph.D.)
KEEPING LAVENDER SILKIE CHICKENS
Do Lavender Silkie Chickens Lay purple Eggs?
Lavender Silkie chicken ladies don’t lay lavender eggs: hens lay cream colored - sometimes speckled - eggs.
Lavender Silkie Chicken Eggs
Lavender Silkie hens lay 2-3 small eggs 🥚 a week. That’s around 100 eggs a year. Silkie hens are considered a bit below average when it comes to egg production but they’re cold-hardy and lay consistently throughout the colder months.
Which Chicken Breeds Lay Purple Eggs?
If purple eggs are what you’re after, then you need to ditch the idea that any lavender-colored chicken breed will lay them, or that any chicken at all will lay them. They won't.
The English Croad Langshan has been said to lay purple eggs, but in all honestly, it’s a stretch to claim this. They have the occasional lilac tint to their shells, and even that is part of the bloom so it washes off.
Where To Buy Lavender Silkies?
If you’re wondering where to source these lavender-colored lovelies, my firm advice would be to go direct to a reputable breeder or hatchery.
If you are clucky enough to find some lavender Silkie chicks looking for a home elsewhere, well that’s great, but without knowing their full bloodline you won’t be able to count on their future health, or that of their chicks if they have any.
Caring For Lavender Silkie Chickens
Lavender Silkie chickens are a great backyard breed and they can be brilliant for beginners, assuming they’re healthy hens to start with!
Unfortunately, a lot of inexperienced keepers do find them to be more fragile than other color varieties, which is most likely linked to their bloodlines and knock on effects of their weaker feathers.
Silkies don’t need much space since they’re so diddy, they’re friendly and easy to care for, they’re not too noisy, they’re not flighty, and they’re beautiful to watch. Just remember that no Silkie chicken likes damp conditions, but the lavender Silkie DESPISES the damp.
Did You Know that excessive sunshine can damage your lavender chicken’s color? The lavender tint can fade to yellow in the sun. Make sure she has shade!
Lavender Silkie Chicken Name Ideas
Ready, steady….name ‘em! Here’s a dozen names to get your imagination started.
- Violet
- Lyla
- Parma
- Mauve
- Pearl
- Iris
- Orchard
- Periwinkle
- Rain (as in Purple rain!)
- Ronny
- Zise
- Plum
LET’S SEE THOSE LAVENDER LOVELIES!
Pop your purple poultry pics in the comments…
Lavender Silke chickens are lovely in every way. They take everything wonderful that Silkies have to offer, and they top it off with a pretty pale purple shimmer.
Like splash Silkie chickens they are not very easy to breed, but once you have them, they’re beautiful, friendly, and oh so fancy. 🤩
If lavender Silkies teach us anything, they remind us that keeping chickens requires a little knowledge. It’s not as easy as hitting the store and picking the cutest chicks. Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to make mistakes when choosing and preparing for new chickens.
Pretty please with a cherry on top make your chicken-keeping story a positive one by giving yourself a head start! A course like Chickenpedia’s chicken healthcare course will be worth its weight in gold. The right knowledge will save you money, time, stress, and heartache. It will help you and your new poultry pals enjoy your time together.
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