Laree Ranch · Silkie Talk
Bearded vs. Non-Bearded Silkies
same fluff, same five toes... one just happens to be wearing a beard
If you've spent any time shopping for silkies, you've probably run into the words bearded and non-bearded and wondered whether it actually matters. Short answer? It's mostly about the face!
Both are true silkies. Both are recognized by the American Poultry Association and the American Bantam Association, and they're judged as separate varieties at shows. Neither one is rarer or fancier than the other. They just look a little different from the neck up.
Here's how to tell them apart, plus a little flock news at the end!
The Bearded Silkie
A bearded silkie has a puff of extra feathering under the beak and out along both cheeks. That's the beard and muffs, and it's what gives them that round, teddy bear, all-face-no-neck look everybody falls in love with.
Because that feathering sits right where the earlobes and wattles would be, bearded birds usually have very small wattles or none at all, and their turquoise earlobes stay hidden underneath all that fluff. On a bearded cockerel you'll sometimes catch a peek of wattle poking through, but it's much less prominent than on a clean-faced bird.
The Non-Bearded Silkie
Non-bearded silkies have a clean face. No muffs, no beard, nothing hiding what's underneath... which means you get to see all the details that make silkies so strange and beautiful in the first place.
That includes the walnut comb, the wattles, and those turquoise blue earlobes that honestly don't look real the first time you see them in person. On a non-bearded bird, all of that is right out in the open. A lot of breeders prefer them for exactly that reason!
Side by Side
Bearded
- Beard and muffs under the beak and across the cheeks
- Wattles very small or completely absent
- Earlobes hidden under feathering
- Rounder, wider, teddy bear head shape
Non-Bearded
- No beard, no muffs, smooth jawline
- Full wattles, especially on cockerels
- Turquoise blue earlobes fully visible
- More defined, chiseled head shape
Everything They Share
- Five toes
- Black skin and bones
- Walnut comb
- Feathered feet
- Hair-like plumage
- Turquoise earlobes
- Sweet, calm temperament
- Broody mama energy
A Quick Note on Genetics
The beard comes from a single trait (breeders call it Mb, for muffs and beard) that's incompletely dominant. In plain english... a chick only needs one copy to grow a beard, but two copies makes a fuller, heavier one.
So if you breed a bearded bird to a non-bearded bird, you'll get a mix in the hatch, and some of those bearded chicks will carry a lighter beard than their parents. If you want consistently bearded babies with good coverage, you've got to breed bearded to bearded and select for it over time. That's the part that takes patience!
Flock News
We're Going All Bearded
After a lot of thought, I've decided I want every silkie in our flock to be bearded. I love that soft round face, it's the look I want our breeding program known for, and keeping the whole flock bearded is the only way I'll get consistent results out of our hatches.
That means our non-bearded grow outs will be looking for new loving homes soon! These are healthy, well-handled birds from the same lines and the same care as everything else here... they just don't fit the direction we're headed. They're going to make somebody a beautiful little flock.
If you've been thinking about starting with silkies or adding to what you've already got, keep an eye out. I'll be posting availability, pricing, and pickup details soon!
crowned with glory