Chickens with fluffy feet are some of the cutest chickens you can raise on your backyard farm. There are several breeds out there that have feathered feet, legs, and heads. Many of them have other great features that make them solid homestead choices too.
There are several great chicken breeds with feathered legs. Here are some of the most popular, along with a few fun facts about these fun birds!
Chickens With Fluffy Feet
Brahma
Brahmas are one of the most popular options. They are good dual purpose birds as they were developed to be a low maintenance meat bird. They also lay about 150 light brown eggs each year and rarely go broody. They’re friendly birds, and do well penned. There’s even a bantam size if you need to save space.
Brahmas aren’t great in heat, but they are cold hardy. If your chicken yard are muddy, they may need help keeping those foot feathers clean, although this is true for all fluffy footed birds.
Fact #1: Brahma meat was the most commonly eaten chicken in the U.S. between 1850 and 1930.
https://www.abikabrahma.com/en/brahma-chicken/
Related Post: Popular Chicken Breeds For Backyard Homesteaders and 3+ Rare Chicken Breeds You Need To Raise
Cochin
Cochins are also sweet and friendly birds that are good with kids. They’re not fabulous layers, but they do well in chicken yards. They can be penned with a shorter fence than more active breeds can. Because they are larger birds they will need at least 4 square feet of indoor space.
Cochins come in many different colors, including blue, black, buff, partridge, barred, white, gold laced, silver laced, red, brown and mottled.
They start laying around 8 months and are pretty quiet birds. And like all chickens with fluffy feet, it’s a good idea to regularly check them for scaly leg mites and other pests regularly.
Fact #2: Queen Victoria received 7 Cochins in 1842.
https://greenfirefarms.com/cochins.html
Faverolle
Faverolles lay brownish pink eggs and are good winter layers. They are very versatile birds and do well confined or free range, and are good for meat, eggs, and are friendly as pets. They do brood easily, and make g,ood chicken mothers.
Fact #3 Faverolles were bred for the Parisian marketplace in the 1880s.
https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/heritage-breeds-list/faverolle-chicken/
Related Post: The History of How Chickens Were Domesticated
Sultan
Sultans are mostly raised as ornamental. They are friendly and do well in confinement. However, they are not good layers, but they also don’t go broody, so it’s not like you can keep them occupied hatching eggs.
Fact #4 Sultans do less damage to grass than other large breeds of chickens.
https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/heritage-breeds-list/sultan-chicken/
Related Post: 3 Ways To Keep Chickens From Ruining Your Lawn
Silkie
Silkies are one of my favorite fluffy chickens, and are some of the most popular chickens with fluffy legs. They also have fluffy heads and the white ones even look like dandelions. They have their unique look because their feathers lack barbicels, which are little hooks of cartilage that give feathers their normal appearance. Silkies’ feathers don’t protect them as well from cold and rain so if you keep them, make sure they always have access to shelter.
Their feathers also do not have flight feathers, so you will need to make sure they can reach their roosts by hopping instead of flying up for the night as others breeds may be able to do. One bonus to silkies is that even the roosters tend to be quieter than other roosters and aren’t prolific crowers.
These small chickens are shown in competitions and have many different colors. They are also friendly pets and wonderful mothers. They don’t mind hatching out other hen’s eggs. Plus, they do lay a few eggs per week. Most are bantam sized at about 2-3 pounds. They also need protection from predators since they can’t fly much and are “snack sized.”
A few more fun facts about silkies are they have blue earlobes and black skin and bones. The only other chicken breed to have black skin and bones are the Ayam Cemani. They also have 5 toes. Most chickens only have 4 toes on each foot. A few silkies may even have 6 toes!
Fact #5 Silkies originated in Asia and were even described by Marco Polo.
https://silkie.org/history-and-origin-of-the-silkie.html
Frizzles
Frizzles technically are not their own breed in the United States, but they sometimes DO have fluffy feet. The most common frizzle breeds are bantam sizes include Polish, Cochin, and Plymouth Rock. If you have a silkie frizzle you have a sizzle!
Frizzles are a mutation where feathers curve outward instead in inward. This fun quirk makes them looks like a feather duster! My Frizzle rooster Gilderoy is absolutely hilarious. Like silkies, frizzles should be protected from getting wet and have shelter from cold. They also can’t fly and will need lower perches. They also may need protection from more aggressive breeds as some can be a little shy.
Frizzles have recently become popular, although they have been around since the 1600s. Bantam Cochin frizzles are a very common breed, and they are very friendly birds. They are decent layers at about 150 eggs each year.
You can breed your own frizzles by mating one frizzle with a normal feathered bird. Fifty percent of the offspring will be normal feathered and fifty percent will be frizzles. NEVER breed two frizzles as 25% of the offspring will be what’s called a frazzle. Frazzles have a lot of health problems. Also, their feathers can break just from being touched.
Fact #6 Charles Darwin called frizzles Caffie Fowl.
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/frizzle-chicken/
Even though chickens with fluffy feet are not always the top layers, they are fun and unique breeds and deserve a place in your coop! Do you raise any? Which ones are your favorite? Share in the comments!
Sources:
The Happy Chicken Coop
Scrumptious Silkies
Livestock Conservancy
Greenfire Farms
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