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totally blown away right now. silkie chickens, as in the fluffy silkie bantams?

Such a pretty chicken. Kind of looks like a shih tzu.

I'm going to track down one of these chickens and cook it - very curious. I've seen black footed chickens but not black skin and flesh.

Thanks for the lesson!

http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/how-to-roast-a-chicken/

you mixed pets and food. No Thanks.

In Chinese cooking, black chickens are only used in soups and stews. I've only ever seen them cut into pieces, never served whole.

@Dana,
If you're in the Toronto area, the Asian supermarket chain T&T always has black chickens for sale, though sometimes only in frozen form.

hah! I've seen these in chinatown and always assumed there were treated in some way to get them black like that... maybe smoked in some way or something similar. Who knew it was natural?

Wow, I can't take my eyes off that photo...I've never seen anything like it.

My mother always makes black chicken soup for me after my monthly friend visits. Chinese consider black chicken to be more nutritious than white chicken but I am not sure if that is an actual fact or one of those things that we have accepted as a fact but nobody ever really tested to see if it is true.

any chinese food store in Brooklyn have black chickens, they are small, and I thought those were smth else.

PS: agree with chusmabilly - food and pets in the same article is a big no-no.

Just back from T&T Michelle with silkies in hand!


So, I guess I'll be making black chicken soup tomorrow. Since I bought two chickens I'm going to try cooking the second one like white chicken just for the heck of it. Back tomorrow with my report!

http://danamccauley.wordpress.com

wow. That's a huge eye opener. I had no idea.

Can you write at all about the Bobo chickens? My husband bought one the other day and it had FEET, which was rather shocking (though maybe not in a bad way). I am curious what the thinking is behind that.

Well, wiki states: "The black meat of a Silkie is generally considered an unusual or unpalatable attribute in European and American cuisines."

I've recently purchased one of these birds for my cat (she is on a raw diet), who loves chicken and I have to say if it tasted like chicken she would have scarfed it up but she smelled it, and licked at it and walked away, not wanting any part of it. So I guess we can say some cats find it unpalatable.

From what I've heard, the meat is not very good, or tough. It's usually for making stocks or sauces I think.

Uh...when some people eat chickens and some keep them as pets (and many do both), how do you NOT "mix" the two? Some people keep pet pigs, does that mean we can't have articles about bacon?

Eliza - don't most chickens have feet?

I've seen silkies before in their live state and have to say no one I've talked to has ever considered eating them because they are more layers than meat birds and layers generally are tougher and gamier (along with slower growing so you're getting a much older bird than your typical meat chicken which are often only 8-10 weeks old at slaughter).

Black chicken is considered a superfood so there must be something about it that is very nutritious. I've never head people say eat more regular chicken.

Oh, I found it. Black chicken is high in anti-oxidant.

http://www.huliq.com/24593/chinese-black-chicken-for-a-healthier-life

I had it in a soup in China and it was okay - of course with all the tendons and cartilage that everyone loves to suck and crunch on and my husband won't eat chicken ever again since that meal! It was gamier than chicken and drier, even though it was in soup. I'm just not a meat girl but it was ok.

The bones are black?! That is so creepy. It kinda looks mean, both alive and dead.

black chickens were on top chef once...it is weird looking though

whoa. That picture of the live chicken is so amazing. Kinda looks like something out of Alice in Wonderland.

I totally want to pamper that bird. It's feathers look like fur! Come here, chick chick chick! Let me kiss your beak.

I want one as a pet, but not as a meal. would eat the eggs, though, for sure.

Well, I cooked up my black chickens with interesting results. Here's a link to my findings:

http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/dana-and-the-black-chickens

Cheers!

Dana

From a chinese point of view...

We usually use black chicken for soup. It is very nourishing & really tasty. You could either boil on low fire the entire chicken, some crushed garlic & just add salt later for taste or you could add in wolfberry seeds & so other chinese herbs. Taste is fantastic!