Lanping Silkie

The Lanping silkie is a Chinese silkie-type chicken associated with Lanping, in Yunnan's mountainous southwest. Like other silkies, it is connected with soft, hairlike feathering, dark skin or bone traits in some lines, and a long tradition of specialty poultry use. The Lanping name matters because it points to a local population rather than simply to the common show Silkie familiar in many countries.

Keepers should not assume every Lanping silkie will match the rounded exhibition Silkie type seen in Western shows. Local lines may be valued for hardiness, meat qualities, medicinal-food traditions, broodiness, or regional identity as much as for feather texture. Care requires attention to dry housing, since loose silky feathering can hold moisture and mud. Breeders should document source, skin color, feather character, size, and hatch performance. When buying, it is worth asking whether the birds are true Lanping stock or ordinary Silkie crosses sold under a rarer name.

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