11 wk old silkie gender?

[Lmnguye4]

Frosty is 11 wks old and loves to cuddle and be held. Is Frosty a hen or rooster??? Im so new at silkies. Im sad but I have a feeling its a roo....

 

[pekin queen]

i think pullet

 

[Cloverr39]

Looks like a pullet
What makes you think rooster?

My 7 week old cockerels kind of look like that. I think mine are even more roostery than yours. At 11 weeks that should be a pullet. Or a late bloomer.

 

[Lmnguye4]

Looks like a pullet
What makes you think rooster?

My 7 week old cockerels kind of look like that. I think mine are even more roostery than yours. At 11 weeks that should be a pullet. Or a late bloomer.

Really??? I hope so!!
His head is not round and poofy like the other 11 wk old I have. He has a comb bigger than my other chick. Also, the tail looks less neater than my other one. And finally, I think I see streamers???

 

[Cloverr39]

Really??? I hope so!!
His head is not round and poofy like the other 11 wk old I have. He has a comb bigger than my other chick. Also, the tail looks less neater than my other one. And finally, I think I see streamers???

Not all silkie hens have the same crest shape. I have one with a more swayed back crest and the others with a more rounder one. Her comb might just be bigger because her parents might of had a bigger comb. I have silkie hens with almost no comb at all and I have one with a pretty decent comb. It varies from bird to bird. An 11 wk old cockerel's comb would be bigger by now. Tails can also look different for each bird. My young cockerels are starting to get some hard feathers in their tails, while my pullet's tails are just soft and poofy. (I don't know if tails have anything to do with gender). And the "streamers" don't really look like streamers to me yet. I think streamers would be more lower in the crest, going twards the neck (I might be wrong on that, I haven't done much research on streamers). The crest might still be changing and it probably will grow into looking more neat.

That's if she's a pullet. Like I said, there is a possibility he's a late bloomer and will start to develop more roostery traits soon, but for now she looks like a pullet.

Also I just want to say that I'm also only 2 years into silkie keeping, but I'm doing my best to learn more and more about them.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Looking pretty girly to me.
Crest size and shape can vary. Vaulted vs. non-vaulted skulls can affect the appearance of the crest. Birds with vaulted skulls tend to have more rounded crests.

 

[Lmnguye4]

Thank you!! I agree with the vaulted head. This 11 week old has a vaulted head and has a bigger crest than my white one. They both come from the same breeder.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Thank you!! I agree with the vaulted head. This 11 week old has a vaulted head and has a bigger crest than my white one. They both come from the same breeder.

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About a third of my chicks right now are hatched with a vaulted skull, even in parents who don’t have it. It is a little more complicated genetically how it is inherited. I am actually trying to breed away from it as they often have difficulty hatching and need to be assisted. They often can’t make that last rotation after they PIP.
Still trying for the big crests even without the vaulted skull. These two young pullets are non-vaulted and they have nice sized crests anyway.