What sex is my silkie.

[Mega_Alex]

Hi! I recently got a silkie from my local farm store. It’s been about a week since I got it so I’m going to guess that it’s about 10 days old. I know that there is a trick to finding the sex of a chick by looking at its wings. If it has two layers of feathers that means it’s a female. Does this trick also work for silkies? If so does that mean I have a female? I’ve included pictures of my silkie. Thank you in advance!

 

[nuthatched]

Wing sexing doesn't work unless it's a trait that's specifically bred for in a chick. it will be about 2 months before we can begin to tell unless you have crowing. :]

 

[Mega_Alex]

Thank you for the reply. I am fairly still new to having chickens. If it does turn out to be a rooster is there a downside to keeping it with three other hens? Like is it bad for us humans to eat fertilized eggs?

 

[All4Eggz]

Wing sexing doesn't work unless it's a trait that's specifically bred for in a chick. it will be about 2 months before we can begin to tell unless you have crowing. :]

Wing sexing works with lots of day old chicks, no matter if it was specifically bred for or not.
@MysteryChicken is able to wing sex chicks 1-7 days old. Depending on if the chick is within that range, Mystery may possibly be able to sex him/her.

@Mega_Alex, are you able to get photos of one of the wings spread out? Spread it out completely without hurting the chick and snap a bunch of photos.

 

[nuthatched]

Thank you for the reply. I am fairly still new to having chickens. If it does turn out to be a rooster is there a downside to keeping it with three other hens? Like is it bad for us humans to eat fertilized eggs?

3 hens in typically not enough for a rooster, at least 8 is recommended. There's no harm in eating fertilized eggs, unless you have religious or ethical issues, people have been eating fertilized eggs for millenia. They're only fertilized, a chick doesn't start to grow until about 20 hours of proper temperatures.

 

[CFLRanching]

2 layers means the primary wing tips have 2 layers, what you are probably referring to are the primaries and secondaries (looking like layers) and like @nuthatched said it only works for specific breeds. It's a cutie though. You'll know with a silkie closer to 3 to 4 months when their combs start to get bigger (if they're male) and if the develop streamers on their heads.

Look at the link. Scroll down to the illustrated picture and you'll see what I'm referring to. The primaries are the longer feather toward the front of the wing (closer to the feet when wings are at their sides). Age will also be a factor in this (and I think your chick is less than 10 days old, prob closer to maybe 5-7 days, looking at the wing tips, I could be wrong though, silkies are a hard breed to identify anything about them at certain ages).

https://www.backyardchickencoops.com.au/blogs/learning-centre/chicken-sexing-in-an-eggshell

Fertile eggs are totally okay to eat. I've heard some say they're healthier for you (never researched that though (but on the list)).