Coucou Soie
Coucou Soie usually refers to the cuckoo color variety of the Silkie, called poule Soie in French, rather than to a separate chicken breed. It combines the Silkie's soft hair-like feathering, dark skin, crest, five toes, and feathered legs with the barred cuckoo pattern. Because Silkie feathering blurs crisp markings, the barring often appears soft and smoky, especially compared with a hard-feathered barred breed.
These chickens are kept mainly for exhibition, breeding projects, broody hens, and ornamental backyard flocks. Their plumage sheds rain poorly, so dry covered housing matters more than it does for many farm breeds; crests may also need trimming or tying back if vision is reduced. Breeders working with cuckoo Silkies select for the pattern while protecting Silkie type, since the barring gene can lighten skin, beak, and shank color in some lines.
Colors: Barred, Birchen, Black, Blue, Brown, Buff, Columbian, Crele, Cuckoo, Duckwing, Gold, Gold Laced, Laced, Lavender, Mille Fleur, Mottled, Partridge, Penciled, Porcelain, Red, Silver, Silver Laced, Spangled, Splash, Wheaten, White
