Black chicken

From Burden's Landing

There seem to be two types of black chickens. The most common are Silkies, known as such for their soft (not necessarily black plumage). Koreans have 오골계. I don't think they're the same type of birds, as 오골계 have black feathers and do not look soft and fluffy. They actually look quite mean. This article suggests that 오골계 are somewhat of a rare breed.

In theory, they're tougher and gamier than regular chickens, possibly due more to their free range nature than to their genes. Again, I'm not sure if these reports apply to both Silkies and 오골계. I'll need to investigate this on my own.

Black chickens seem to be used primarily in soups across all cultures. For Koreans, they seem to be used exclusively in 삼계탕.

References