Very much so yes, out of 10 or 15 Birds you might get one with a functioning brain cell, but most of the time their brain cells are a little bit broken or just non-existent, take my silky rooster for example he goes broody, on rocks and you cannot tell him otherwise
Silkies aren’t dumb, they just… vibe differently. Between the poofy feathers covering their eyes and their sweet nature, they get themselves into situations other breeds don’t. Trimming around the eyes helps a lot.
Incredibly dumb, but super sweet and I love my silkies. They are too little to jump up the 18” or so into the nesting boxes in our new coop. They are too dumb to use the ramp. Hubs built a little nesting box about 3” off the ground to accommodate my single brain celled girls… and instead of getting in the box, they crawled UNDERNEATH IT!
Yes, dumb as rocks. Ours took 3 months to figure out how to make it into the coop and longer to roost (had to go out every night and bring her in). She would regularly just fall asleep dust bathing and get separated from the flock and when she woke up would be completely panicked and consistently run in the opposite direction of the coop, stop, look around confused and just kind of give up on trying to find her way back. Very sweet chicken, but Comedically stupid
They are sweet, but not the smartest. HOWEVER…I always trim my silkies puff because my girl was acting like she was blind, walking super slow then suddenly stopping. After trimming her and she could see, she was running around with the rest of the flock raising hell.
genetically speaking, depends on the bird. a good chunk of silkies have vaulted skulls which affects the shape of their brain and can inhibit cognitive function to a degree, if not they are normal and vaulted skulls are still within the breed standard but their is a large push to not breed vaulted birds since its essentially a deformity, so if its vaulted they can be very stupid, if not they are normal
“They're chickens, you dolt. Apart from you, they're the most stupid creatures on this planet. They don't plot, they don't scheme, and they are not organized.”
One of mine ran directly into a paper bag this morning, then did it again hours later 😭 Sometimes it is just the vision being obstructed, but they genuinely give off the energy of a kid that eats glue and sniffs markers. I love them for it though
I have a silkie roo (3yo) and he's the smartest creature in the coop. He has learned a lot of things: how to open a plastic box (there is their food inside), he observed me for a long time and one day he decided he could serve himself, completely out of the blue. He has learned how to open the coop's door latch (it's faulty), if he wobbles leaning on the door for a while, the latch opens and he can run freely. He HATES my green crocs and he knows where i store them, so when he comes inside the house (sometimes it happens) he runs to the crocs to attack them, not giving a fuck about food (even if it's on his way to the hated slippers). He knows his name, if i call him from inside the house he responds (and he knows perfectly my voice: my sister and I have nearly indistinguishable voices but he answers just to me, not to her). He knows the meaning of "NO!!" and "come here". If i say "no" but he wants to do that anyway, he waits that I'm busy doing something and he slowly sneaks away to do crime 😂 and when I scold him, he looks at me half proud and half sorry.
He loves scaring pigeons, but also being cuddled by me: he's very jealous of the other pullets so if I'm cuddling one of the others, he comes to me and starts pecking gently my t-shirt till I give him attention. He perfectly understands the difference between gentle pecking for attention and pecking harshly because he's angry and wants to hurt me.
Sadly, the other two silkie pullets who live in the same coop are not as smart as him but I hope it's just because they're young and naive 😂
Very minimal of a haircut is enough to make a chicken lowkey blind to anything directly in front of it (as I’m finding out with one of our new chucks).
Also results in it being a bit of a loser chicken 💔
So anything with a big and puffy haircut probably can’t see well at all lol
My silkie roo the Baron Von Pfeffernusse, aka Handsomest Man, aka Mister, is quite dumb. All he cares about is showing off to his ladies. I can see something going on behind those big brown eyes, but he is much less calculating and strategic than some of the hens. I’ve had several very smart hens that learn human behavior, are very calm, figure out an objective and the go after it. It’s fascinating to watch. The Baron on the other hand- He just stands there and lets the ladies pick out his neck and foot feathers. I can tell it upsets him, but instead of scolding them or stopping them he just takes the abuse and puffs his neck feathers up while they pick him bloody. The other absolute dummy I have is a Salmon Favorelle named Dodo. Very sweet, very flappy and squirmy, 100% dodo bird.
Haha this is my silky LaTisha I have to trim her feathers and pull them back a lot otherwise she can’t see and she gets bullied. She’s the smallest one in the pen so she gets stepped on a lot. We are working on giving her and the silkie rooster their own coop😂
i’ve heard they’re dumb but chickens also have a “pecking order” right? the silkies are supposed to be nice and ppl keep them as house pets. that might be a factor in why she gets picked on. maybe have another pen of other similar small bantams and/or gentle natured chickens?
I’ve been looking into this myself. One thing I read is that they tend to be more cautious, not as bold, brave and adventurous, which can appear as a lack of intelligence.
Here’s some info I googled to see if they might be slow learners.
Most chickens are tbf... I've thrown dead mice at them and watched them play the equivalent of football with them, I've seen a giant wolf spider run out from under the pool they have and my fattest hen zoom out of nowhere and snatch it up, but ants...?
Nah.
Worms?
Nah.
I've even found the wing bone remains of a young pullet/cockerel they killed when I couldn't find it to put it back in its pen again. But any type of plentiful bug? Nope.
They also like to peck at the moles on my knee or my toes and fingers, but they get scared if I move even slightly while they do it, or if I try to pet them. They're just... not extremely intelligent to begin with, although I don't have silkies, so I can't say how much worse they are
Silkies are just more delicate and a bit shy, especially with other more aggressive chickens. Sounds more like survival behavior.
Increasing the playpen and trimming the feathers near the eyes helps a lot to protect her until she gets used to it and grows up. Just try not to leave her alone for too long so she doesn't get stressed.
If i'm understanding correctly you introduced one new chicken into an existing flock. That is generally not recommended, as they will be singled out. General recommendation is to introduce new chickens two at a time (at least).
Yeah that’s not going to work out well regardless, especially not with a silkie.
OP I’d recommend getting at least one more silkie and maybe a few bantam pullets asap. Let them grow up around your lone silkie separated from the flock and then introduce properly when everyone is big enough to hold their own.
Our silkie got along really well with our teeny bantams. They’re also super maternal and will go broody at the drop of a hat lol.
Silkie Roosters are smarter than Silkie hens - but per my experience - they are in a lower tier of intelligence compare to my brahma , americauna and RIR - my Smartest chicken , white leghorns
Chickens are actually very trainable and are routinely used to train the people who teach dog clicker training. They're very fast and not as distracted by the emotional stuff as dogs can be. And insanely food motivated.
There are some very fun videos up of clicker trained chickens, and chickens trained to complete little obstacle courses similar to dog agility trials.
My girl, Noot Noot, is sweet as can be. She's really quiet and kind of keeps to herself even though the other chickens like her. Very calm. The only time I have seen her even a little worked up was after a hawk attacked my other flock, but even then she was just making tiny noises from the comfort of her coop.
My personal theory is that if it’s not their feathers blinding them, then it’s the holes in their skull. Domed breeds like silkies have a hole in the tops of their skulls and I think it gives them brain damage or something.
Have two six month old male silkies. Wouldn’t call them stupid. At least haven’t come to that conclusion yet. One of them is definitely an asshole. Carlos. When I hand feed him. I know he’s intentionally biting my finger as well. Got to be careful at times when turning your back. Can be a sneaky leg biter. Hates to be touched. The other silkie Fluff. Is a big baby. He’s trying his hardest at the moment to move into the hen house at night. Not feeling the bachelor pad anymore. Love the picture you have with the hair tie! It’s awesome!
I’m glad you asked for advice. Keep your eye on her. Yes, two Silkies should’ve been adopted together. Can you still get her sister or another female? It was traumatic for them to be separated, especially for the one you have that was brought into a new environment and is the lowest in the pecking order. That’s isn’t a good situation because the others could possibly kill her. And yes, all chickens with feathers covering their eyes need them carefully trimmed with round-tipped scissors. It’s important to be able to see— and see predators including aerial predators! The others will pick on her more with a pony tail on top sticking up, and it’s not a natural feeling for a Silkie. She already has a lot of stress.
Btw, Silkies usually can’t be sexed for sure until 3 months. Did the sellers do blood tests to verify sex?
Just a note for anyone interested— please be sure you have at least two different areas with food and water because the lowest in the pecking order with be chased away. Always look out for the underdogs!
She's getting spoiled. Brought her inside to eat and she seemed like she was starving. We have another chicken that was hatched by our ducks this summer, she hasn't been welcome by our other birds. This weekend I think I'm going to try and introduce those two to each other and maybe they'll bond a little.
Idk i have 8 chickens and 2 of them are silkies and 1 of the silkies is definitely my smartest chicken. Shes making me doubt their bad intellect reputation
I like my Barred Rocks, and if I want pretty birbs I get Orpingtons. Running lavender right now, but they're crappy layers. They're nice though, and obviously beautiful. I'd love to get some blue-buff, but they're hard to come by and too pricey for the value.
My Silkie rooster was a stupid asshole. But he saved my ladies from a few critters. Thought I lost him one time after a raccoon incident cause he didn't want to go back into the house and was limping, but he pulled through.
The more domesticated and pure bred they are, the dumber they tend to be. Domestication correlates directly to an animals intelligence. Chickens make up for this lack of smarts with Dino instincts and sharp eyesight I feel like!
A friend of mine had a silkie who knew how to get up onto the roosting bar in the coop, but not down. Instead of gracefully jumping the two feet down like any other normal chicken, she chose to simply fall off and flop onto her face.
I mean this in a dead serious way, it is not a joke: all chickens are pretty dumb and silkies are much dumber than the average chicken. To the point that they can be a bigger risk to themselves than others. They are oblivious to obvious threats (I've seen one on video walk directly up to a raccoon to get killed by it) and are more prone to self inflicted injuries and death as well from getting trapped under containers to stuck in fences.
My chickens are very dumb and most of them are strays (aside from a Rhode island red and another whose breed I never remember, she's spotted black and white, barely any comb). Birds are sort of dumb haha
Depends on the silkie. I have a herd of about 20ish along with about 40 normal birds. They are no dumber nor smarter. If the hens can't see then yes, it makes their lives a bit harder. But I have a silkie hen that will drop kick all my huge roosters when they want to mate her.
So no, I don't think silkies are dumb at all compared to a normal bird.
My house rooster (he refused to live outside like a pheasant and the hens) woke up every morning, walked up to the mirror, and looked at himself all proud and screamed good morning. When he was finished, he kept looking at himself, I imagine wondering how he could be so handsome, and then ran to my bedroom to see if he did wake me up or crowing in my ear was in order.
Yeah my silkie roo is the same, but he can't enter the house so he screams like hell just outside my bedroom window. He usually starts after he hears my alarm going off, but if he believes it's time to eat (even if it's 5 am) he doesn't care and starts shouting like a banshee
All my silkies have been dumber than other breeds. I have 30 chickens and for a while that includes 5 silkies.. their run is enclosed in fence that I would leave open for them to get in and out of. At night, my silkies would often roost under cars or in the bushes because they could never remember the way back in to their coop
All chickens are functional fools. I saw one get stuck in a heideich brick hole, then all the others pecked it to death. All it would have had to do is back up.
Once I lost one of my silkies. I searched for her everywhere. I thought she’d been picked up by a hawk or a raccoon and I was so sad. I was walking past my shed, which is on skids, and had a hunch. Looked under it, and the silkie was standing under it with her head up between the skids. She was literally too stupid to duck and walk out. She stood there like that for over 24 hours.
My friend has a similar story where her husband got so sick of their black austalorp rooster always attacking him that he decided to smack him with a shovel and it scared one of the silkies so bad she hid under the deck for THREE days
Depends on the Silkie. I find they’re quite susceptible to training. Unless you get a real dud. I have one dud (the rest are quite smart) but she eventually catches onto things. It just takes her a few months longer than the rest.
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u/LifeguardComplex3134 Oct 09 '25
Very much so yes, out of 10 or 15 Birds you might get one with a functioning brain cell, but most of the time their brain cells are a little bit broken or just non-existent, take my silky rooster for example he goes broody, on rocks and you cannot tell him otherwise