7 Popular Fluffy Chicken Breeds

The world’s most popular fluffy chicken breeds listed and described in one article.

What is a Fluffy Chicken?

A fluffy chicken is one that is fuller and softer than the average chicken. Often their plumage is light in texture and containing air, lending them a more voluptuous appearance.

American Poultry Association

As one of the oldest Livestock Organizations in the United States, the American Poultry Association (APA) classifies and describes the American Standard of Perfection for each recognized breed of poultry. The American Standard of Perfection defines the standard physical appearance, coloring, size, plumage, and temperament for various breeds of poultry (i.e. chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese). It is the official breed standard for pure bred and heritage breed birds in North America. Today, the APA recognizes 53 standard-sized chicken breeds and 61 bantam chicken breeds. This number varies slightly as some standard-sized breeds have a smaller, bantam counterpart, whereas other bantam breeds are true bantams with no standard-sized counterpart.

British Poultry Standard of Perfection

The British Poultry Standard is the oldest poultry breed standard in the world. Today, they recognize 93 pure chicken breeds.

Silkies

Silkie Chickens are the fluffiest of all chicken breeds. As their feathers lack barbicels, silkie feathers do not look like a traditional chicken feather. Rather, they more closely resemble fur. So instead of just a fluffy booty, their whole body is fluffy and poofy like a pom-pom. They are the epitome of an ornamental breed.

Silkies are unique for more reasons than one. In addition to their fluffy feathers, they have black skin, blue earlobes, and five toes. They come in a variety of colors but the standard of perfection acknowledges white, black, blue, splash, lavender, partridge, buff, gray, and paint. In addition to the wide variety of colors, there are two main varieties of the silkie chicken: bearded and non-bearded. Bearded silkies have a fluffy tuft of feathers around their face, resembling a beard. Non-bearded silkies do not have this fluff around their face and typically have larger wattles compared to the bearded silkie variety.

Silkie chickens are a true bantam breed and do not come in a standard sized. Silkie hens lay a small white or cream-tinted egg. In my personal opinion, they are one of the most delicious eggs!

I adore my silkie bantam chickens. They make such great pets. I cannot recommend this breed enough and believe every small flock needs this adorable fluffy chicken breed.

Faverolles

The Faverolles (pronounced Faverolle with a silent “s”) is another adorably fluffy chicken breed that makes the list. One look at this medium-sized bird and you can see why. To start, they have a beard, so the fluff begins at their cute little face. They have a stocky build despite having only a medium-sized body. Their feathers are loose and have an under fluff, putting out vibes that they are bigger than they actually are. But it doesn’t stop their, as feathers also extend down their legs. These birds were made for winter in their puffy down coats.

Faverolles are very cuddly and loveable, making them a perfect addition for the backyard chicken hoarder… I mean chicken keeper. They are naturally winter-hardy. Once they reach egg-laying maturity, they are excellent layers in the winter months. This is a nice quality when you have a diverse group of chickens and most slow down production during the winter. The Faverolles hen lay a tinted light brown egg that is medium in size.

Cochins

The Cochin chicken is another breed of chicken that unquestionably makes the list of fluffy chickens. They come in two size options, the standard being a large-framed bird and the other being a bantam. This breed does come in a few different colors. Those colors recognized by the standard of perfection include: red, blue, black, and white.

The standard cochin chicken breed, already large in size, can appear even more enormous and intimidating thanks to its fluffy plumage and feathered legs.Cochin bantams, while half the size of the standard, are equally poofy in appearance. Both sizes of cochins are noted for being calm and friendly, only adding to the appeal of adding this beautiful breed of chicken to your backyard chicken flock. That being said, they are primarily an ornamental breed and fair egg producers.

Polish Chicken

The Polish Chicken earns a spot among the fluffiest chicken breeds all due to its ornamental, over-the-top crest. Their head, often resembling a pom-pom or top hat, is what gives them their unique look. They come in a wide variety of colors, some of what include white, black, blue, buff-laced, silver-laced, golden-laced, and so on. They are beautiful birds and among the most popular breeds in modern backyard flocks. As show birds, polish chickens are not well known for their egg or meat production. However, if you are looking to add variety to your flock, the polish chicken is a great option. Polish chickens lay a primarily white or tinted egg roughly 150-200 times per year.

Brahma Chicken

Brahma chickens are one of the larger breeds of chicken worldwide, earning them titles like “King of Chickens” and “Gentle Giants”. Their heavily feathered legs add to this breed’s delightful fluffy appearance. Originally they were bred large in size to be a meat bird, however, the brahma chicken are also a good egg layers making them a dual-purpose bird and a good choice for any small farm.

The Brahma chicken comes in three color varieties: buff, light, and dark. Buff Brahma are an orange-y yellow with black on their hackle, wing tips, and tail feathers. Light Brahmas have a similar pattern but are white in color rather than buff. Dark brahmas have a silver penciled pattern, a silver feather with black striping.

Orpington Chickens

Orpingtons are a British dual purpose breed that come in various colors (buff, black, and lavender) and a whole lot of fluff. Their fluffy plumage gives them their characteristic heart-shaped figure. They do well in cold climates and are excellent egg layers, laying 150-250 light brown eggs per year. While the Orpington breed can be a broody hen, they also make wonderful mothers to their chicks. So not only committed to hatching their brood, they are committed to raising their chicks as well. They are extremely friendly birds with a docile demeanor making them good pets for beginners and families with children.

The Buff Orpington and the Lavender Orpington are a popular choice and make a great addition to any backyard flock. Buff Orpingtons are a yellow or light orange color with subtle white feathers. The Lavender Orpington has silvery-blue feathers, lending them their unique appearance of a soft cloud. And Black Orpingtons have jet black feathers that take on an iridescent blue-green hue in the sunlight.

Frizzle Chicken

While not recognized as an official chicken breed by the American Poultry Association (APA), it is considered a breed in a select few other European countries and Australia. The United States recognizes frizzle only as a special type of plumage – a chicken with outward and upward curling feathers. This characteristic is genetically linked but it is not quite clear where this gene originated from and when. To get a frizzle, you cross a frizzle with a regular non-frizzle. Crossing two frizzles results in a frazzle and an opportunity for poor health outcomes. For this reason, it is not recommended that two frizzles be crossed on a venture to create more frizzles. Rather, you have to roll the dice breeding a frizzle and a non-frizzle and hope to hit the genetic lottery. If you are familiar with mendelian genetics, the frizzle gene follows a similar pattern (1:2:1). As a heterozygous trait, the odds of getting a frizzle is 50% when you cross a frizzle and a non-frizzle.

Although not an official breed, this chicken cannot be denied a spot among the fluffy class of chickens. Frizzles come in a variety of color and patterns depending on the breed of chicken. They typically lay a cream or tinted egg; however, they are not well known for their egg laying abilities but, again, that depends on the parental breeds.