New member and new to chickens

Hi. I'm new to raising chickens and have found this site to be a wealth of knowledge.
I have 10 chicks now. We purchased 8 pullets and they are about 11-12 wks old. Now that they are getting older we are trying to determine if any of them are cockerels...so far we have a couple that show signs but not sure yet. Hoping we don't but if we do we will have to get rid of them.

Our neighbors have 2 silkies but have decided not to do chickens so they have offered them to us. They are younger, not sure how much, maybe 2-3 wks younger. We are trying to integrate them as we speak. Today is day 2 of having them visit during the day. Yesterday didn't go so well with our buff brahma (we think it might be a cockerel). So we removed the brahma and they did okay with the others. Today we have kept the brahma out and they seem to be getting along.

We have the following:
(2) buff orpingtons
(2) barred leghorns
(1) Golden Spangled Hamburg
(1) Buff Brahma
(1) Welsummer
(1) Speckled Sussex
Plus the (2) silkies if they will integrate. One of those may be a cockerel too.

I'm worried about the hamburg. He/She is extremely tiny, has green legs, and isn't as social as the others. How do you tell if it is a cockerel and should they be tiny, tiny?

See pics below of each of them.
Silkies
Maybe a cockerel in the back

Speckled Sussex


Barred Leghorn


Buff Brahma - Headshot and tail shot. Is this a cockerel or not?

Hi and welcome to BYC - glad that you have joined us. In reality, its best to quarantine birds before introducing them to the flock. Heres a few links on integration that may help, but since they are Silkies, I'd suggest that you be very cautious.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1015820/reintegration-by-supervised-visits#post_15742910

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1098683/introducing-new-chickens-to-old-flock#post_16895615

You can post the pics above on the What Breed or Gender is This? forum for advice from the experts.

Good luck

CT

Welcome to BYC Glad you joined us! CTKen gave you some good places to find information. Good luck with the integration!

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

Hi, and welcome to BYC!!

Lovely birds you've got!

For best advice please post photos of your birds(and age in photo) at "what breed or gender is this."

You just won't know for certain what you have until the rooster crows. Usually. Last year we got 10 RIR at the farm store. Straight run. I thought half of them were roosters. Nope!! All hens.

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. The integration is going well without Thor. The silkies are being accepted but still hang off on their own. You can tell there is a separation in the flock. The silkies won't climb the run into the coop either. They do fine coming down in the morning but won't go up in the night. Hoping its just because they are much smaller and younger than the others. They don't use the roosts either, just nest on the floor. Its possible one of them is a cockerel too so might not get to keep them since they are very close I wouldn't want to separate them. I'm going to give it a week or two of trying to integrate the whole flock before I decide who needs to go.

Thank you for the information. I'll be reading as much as possible. Do you mind elaborating on your statement about being cautious because they are silkies? This is my first flock and definitely my first integration. So I don't know anything about silkies. I've done a good bit of research on the other breeds I have and have had most of my questions answered. My flock is very social and love to climb all over me when I go out to visit them. They are like my dog, happy and excited to see me anytime of day. The silkies are social but not anywhere near as friendly as the others, with the exception of my golden hamburg. She is an odd one still trying to figure out why she is less than half the size of all the others and has green legs...she looks like a roadrunner.

mother hen toad said:

Thank you for the information. I'll be reading as much as possible. Do you mind elaborating on your statement about being cautious because they are silkies? This is my first flock and definitely my first integration. So I don't know anything about silkies. I've done a good bit of research on the other breeds I have and have had most of my questions answered. My flock is very social and love to climb all over me when I go out to visit them. They are like my dog, happy and excited to see me anytime of day. The silkies are social but not anywhere near as friendly as the others, with the exception of my golden hamburg. She is an odd one still trying to figure out why she is less than half the size of all the others and has green legs...she looks like a roadrunner.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I've just seen your question. From what i have read here (I have no personal experience keeping silkies) I suggested proceeding with caution due to their size and the potential for a bit more bullying to go on, compared to standard sized breeds. It seems that you are doing well, so there's no need to worry.

CT