Distinctive chicken has black skin and furry feathers. A male White Silkie chicken is seen in this undated photo. Mark Clifford/Barcroft Media/Getty Images — -- The silkie “black” chicken's ...

Silkies owe their unusual black color to fibromelanosis, a rare genetic mutation of hyperpigmentation believed to have first arisen in China. Their Mandarin name, wu gu ji, means “dark-boned chicken;” ...

In the spring 14 years ago, Dickson County resident Judy Lee went out to check on her chickens – though the fluffy birds could have been mistaken for a small dog or cat. Lee didn’t know it yet, but ...