2 straight run silkies - 11 weeks - Hens or Roosters?

[jstlitlome]

I am pretty sure what I have with my 8 large fowl. These are the two silkies that I got along with the large fowl, just for fun. They are pretty sweet. I have no idea if they are boys or girls. I'm not sure with their size it will matter, but I am curious.

Also, will a male silkie compete with a large fowl rooster? Will it be a problem?


This is David Bowie. He used to be scared of everything, but lately he challenges all of the girls. He likes to be petted, but not held. Even if he is a hen, we will always call him "he". lol






This is Goldie Hawn. She was fearless in the brooder, but somehow has found herself at the bottom of the pecking order in the coop. She is quite a bit smaller than David. She doesnt like to be touched too much.







Whatcha think?

Leslie

 

[Chickie Mama]

I have 4 silkies... one is a rooster. He is very aggressive, however I have 2 other roosters and they all get along. It should be noted however that my 2 other roosters are "special." One is a miniature mystery breed and the other is a very large leghorn but he has some sort of neurological impairment that makes him walk funnSO in a nut shell, as long as he is the dominant rooster, he should be fine.

However, if my rooster is typical to the breed, I feel I should warn you, he will be aggressive towards you (children, dogs, spouses) as well. Frequently handle your rooster and when holding him push his head down (in submission) and do not allow him to breed in front of you. It helps. It has not eliminated the aggression, but it has helped. On the upside. He is a very good rooster and takes care of the freerange flock. He alerts them to danger and rushes to their aid when he hears one in destress. That is why he still has a home with us. : )

This is an old picture of him when he was a few months old.

 

[jstlitlome]

Thank you! Yours is very cute. Actually, neither are aggressive to me at all. David does get to roost with the big girls but in no way will he be dominant to my large fowl rooster, Ivan.


Do either of these look like roosters? How do you tell with a Silkie?

 

[Chickie Mama]

Ours was sweet up until he was fully grown and then his aggression increased fast... he is better now. Maybe he was just figuring things out. I think he knows I'm in charge now. BUT I still wear my muckboots around him. Don't need him to scar up my legs. : ) The females are sweet as can be and one of mine is sitting on 2 eggs right now. It's an interesting breed. Enjoy.

Oh and to answer your question... I'm not sure if any of yours look like roosters. I'm not very good at guessing... but I can tell you the brown ones have puffball heads like my females. The dark one's face looks like my rooster- but I never can tell until they are older.

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10200947204950785
I've tried to include a little video (not sure it will work)... My sweet dog thinks the rooster is playing.

 

[jstlitlome]

Ours was sweet up until he was fully grown and then his aggression increased fast... he is better now. Maybe he was just figuring things out. I think he knows I'm in charge now. BUT I still wear my muckboots around him. Don't need him to scar up my legs. : ) The females are sweet as can be and one of mine is sitting on 2 eggs right now. It's an interesting breed. Enjoy.

Oh and to answer your question... I'm not sure if any of yours look like roosters. I'm not very good at guessing... but I can tell you the brown ones have puffball heads like my females. The dark one's face looks like my rooster- but I never can tell until they are older.

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10200947204950785
I've tried to include a little video (not sure it will work)... My sweet dog thinks the rooster is playing.

Sad. The video didn't work.

Mine never peck me. But my Barred Rocks sure do! I think they are love pecks, but it can hurt!

 

[salt and pepper]

The gold silkie looks like a pullet, I'm really not sure about the other though.

 

[Chickie Mama]

Aw, I wish I could share that video. Oh well.

I never have good luck with Straight Run. I had 12 leg horn chicks, 9 turned out to be roosters... I have 6 Brahma chicks right now and it's looking like I have 5 roosters. I think straight run really means "Hey, you want some roosters?"

You'll know if they are roosters when the comb and waddle starts to develop. Somewhere around 3-4 months is when I start to see hints.

 

[jstlitlome]

According to the guy at feldmans, the Silkies can't be sexed and only come as straight run. All the rest of mine are supposed to be pullets. That doesn't always work either!

 

[Stiggy]

They look like pullets to me, however Silkies are problematic to sex, even as they get older. and strangely they seem to be hens then suddenly males sometimes, and it seems to be more often in silkies than in other breeds. Either way they both look like lovely birds and if you spend enough time with them then they should grow into very friendly chickens. As mentioned in many earlier posts on silkie roosters some are aggressive and some are docile. it really depends on what your doing with them, and what you want from them as to if its worth putting up with a stroppy boy . I had the nicest silkie boy ( called little man) and he fathers some lovely chicks. however even though he and the hens are very docile some of his prodigy were stroppy . It seems to be a luck of the draw thing, although asserting your dominance can help it will never estinguish the dominance behaviour completely.

 

[jstlitlome]

Wow! That was an old post! haha! Well for informative purposes, I'll let you know that Goldie is in fact a hen and David was a rooster. Just as their namesakes. David was quite aggressive, and I was wondering what to do with him when he redeemed himself in my eyes two weeks ago and made the ultimate sacrifice protecting his hens from a gray fox.

I love that you commented on this post and reminded me of this cute picture of him, back when he was sweet!

It did seem true that the pullet had a more horizontal posture while the rooster stood up taller. Even when they were little in the brooder.

Peace!

Leslie