Teen enjoys raising rare chicken breed

Cheyenne Plummer, 14, raises, keeps and shows Silkie Bantam chickens. Pictured here from left to right are Fluffy, Pebbles, Athena and Latte. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

The feathers of Silkies look and feel like fur. Regardless of feather color, they have blue-black skin and bones. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

Silkies are bred in several different colors, like the white and splash hens pictured here. Other colors are buff, gray, blue, black, partridge and lavender. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

Cheyenne Plummer, 14, and her parents keep close to 40 silkies at their home and in a sided carport. They also has a few chickens of other breeds. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

White silkies, like this rooster, have to be kept in coops off the ground so their feathers don't get dirty. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

The Plummers breed silkie chicks to raise or sell as pets and show birds. Photo by Karissa Minn, Salisbury Post.

By Karissa Minn

kminn@salisburypost.com

At first glance, the creatures at Cheyenne Plummer’s home look like walking powder puffs.

As they move around, a dark beak and five-toed feet peek out of the fuzz on each odd-looking animal. The final clue to their identity is their soft but persistent clucking.

Plummer, 14, raises Silkie Bantam chickens with the help of her parents, Tonya and Kevin Plummer, at Feather Leg Farms south of Salisbury.

Silkies are ornamental fowl, used primarily as show birds or pets.

Cheyenne said she fell in love with the “prissy chickens,” as she calls them, when she saw photos of them on the Internet.

“I like how fluffy they are,” she said. “They don’t look like a chicken. They look more like a fuzzball.”

Silkie feathers lack the barbicels that hold normal feathers together. As a result, their feathers look more like fur and can feel soft like silk.

Tonya said when her daughter showed her photos of the birds, she asked her, “What in the world is that? A furry chicken?”

Cheyenne and Tonya finally saw one in person at a bird show at the Rowan County fair two years ago. A bluish gray bird was sitting calmly on top of a cage.

“We walked off, but Cheyenne kept saying, ‘I really like it,’ ” Tonya said. “I told her, ‘That’s a lot of money for a chicken.’ ”

They eventually went back, and the man who owned the bird convinced them to buy Fluffy, Cheyenne’s first blue silkie.

She now raises about 40 of the chickens, including several that recently hatched. Some were bought or given to her as gifts, while others were bred by her family.

Cheyenne has shown silkies in Smithfield, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Morganton, winning awards like Reserve Show and Best in Breed.

“It’s actually really hard for silkies to win champion of show,” Cheyenne said. “The judges like large fowl and Old English.”

Cheyenne helps to feed and water the birds, but when it’s time to wash them before a show, Tonya takes over.

“We use kitten or puppy shampoo,” Tonya said. “She’s afraid she’ll get it in their eyes.”

It would take nearly an hour to blow-dry each silkie, she said, but they now use a heated fan to dry them all at once in four hours. The chickens gather around the fan, fluffing their feathers on their own.

Feeding and caring for the birds can get expensive, Tonya said, but the hobby pays for itself.

“We sold a bunch this past summer,” she said, adding that they sell both show-quality and pet-quality chickens. “A lot of people get them just to have as pets for kids.”

Silkies are gentle, friendly chickens that do well with children and often don’t mind being stroked or held.

They come in bearded and nonbearded varieties. The bearded kind has more feathers around the neck and face. They also are bred in several different colors, including buff, gray, blue, black, splash, white, partridge and lavender.

The breed is thought to have originated in either China or Japan, where silkie is considered a delicacy.

These chickens are typically not eaten in the United States, because their meat, skin and bones are an unappetizing bluish-black.

They do provide some food for their owners, though.

“They lay tasty eggs,” Kevin said.

When Cheyenne began raising silkies, the family bought a carport and added siding to create an outdoor shelter for the chickens.

“Her dad spends so much time making cages,” Tonya said. “Every time we turn around, she wants another color.”

This time, it’s lavender — a pale, silvery gray just recognized as a show color.

But Cheyenne’s parents aren’t complaining about her enthusiasm for her hobby, or the cost and effort it takes to maintain it.

“I like it,” Tonya said. “It keeps her out of trouble.”

It’s also an outlet for her love of animals — the family also has a few parrots, a lizard, miniature horses and more. Cheyenne used to show horses and rabbits before moving on to chicken breeds.

Cheyenne, who is homeschooled and used to attend Southeast Middle School, says she is thinking about becoming a veterinarian or a vet technician.

Her parents also have grown to love raising and showing the chickens.

Tonya now helps keep track of show points for the American Silkie Bantam Club.

Through the club and the shows they enter, the family has found a network of information and support, she and Kevin said.

“We all enjoy it as a family,” Kevin said. “We’ve made lots of friends.”

They certainly have no shortage of feathered ones.

For more information about Silkies and how to raise them, call Tonya at 704-279-1021 or e-mail her at tplummer01@windstream.net.