Silkie (烏骨雞), meaning 'black-boned chicken'. Melanism which extends beyond the skin into an animal's connective tissue is a rare trait, and in chickens it is caused by fibromelanosis, which is a rare mutation believed to have begun in Asia. The Silkie and several other breeds descended from Asian stock possess the mutation. Disregarding color, the breed does not generally produce as much as the more common meat breeds of chicken. Silkies lay a fair number of eggs, of a cream color, but production is often interrupted due to their extreme tendency to go broody; a hen will produce 100 eggs in
What a queer bird in Chicago", with the work allegedly first printed in the "Bulletin of the Chicago Board of Education". The "Chicago Ledger" printed the work its "Jokes and More Jokes" section in May 1922, where the word "wonderful" replaced "queer". In July 1922, it appeared as a verse of imprecise origin in the "American Consular Bulletin". When printed in the "Pleasantries" section of "The Christian Register" in September 1922, it was attributed as a "[c]omposition by foreigner in a Chicago night school." By 1980, it was published as a folk song to be sung as a round. What a queer bird "What