Are my silkies male or female? Please help

[lexiredhead]

 

[lexiredhead]

Mountain peep, Your avatar is really cool, what kind of duck is that?

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Mountain peep, Your avatar is really cool, what kind of duck is that?

That is a mandarin duck. Isn't it gorgeous?!

Oh and after those last pics, you have hens

 

[MissSilkie]

I would say they are female if they are laying/sitting on eggs. I would still keep an eye on them though, and listen for any crowing.

 

[lexiredhead]

Thank you so much! Now I have a good excuse to buy a male! Is that a good idea to add a male?

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Thank you so much! Now I have a good excuse to buy a male!

Is that a good idea to add a male?

It will be very stressful and hard. Two females not used to a male are usually not happy with one. You'll have to introduce them slowly using the see but don't touch method. This is when you separate the two groups so they can't peck each other but are still "around" each other. Do this for at least two weeks. Be sure to quarantine the rooster. (Here's a link on quarantining. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...often-underestimated-part-of-raising-chickens) Make sure there is tons of room for them to run away if they have to once they are finally together. Also, be sure to provide extra feeders and waterers so no one is deprived.

 

[lexiredhead]

Thank you so much!

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. Yep, you need a male to have fertile eggs. Most silky males are relatively mild so the introduction of a cockerel/rooster to your flock should not be too disruptive.

 

[lexiredhead]

Awesome! Thank you! Would it be better to buy more chicks or a juvenile male or full grown?

 

[appps]

Thank you so much! Now I have a good excuse to buy a male! Is that a good idea to add a male?

It depends on why you are buying one.

If it's because you think a flock needs a male then you should know that a flock is quite happy without one
You only have two hens so a rooster will be constantly jumping on them to mate as he really needs more hens than that and can actually wear out or hurt such a small flock with his attentions.
Roosters can also make lovely pets but you should be aware that some roosters do not like sharing their hens with you and we found our female pets soon became hard to cuddle unless we were willing to risk the rooster attacking us to do it. So you don't want to buy a young rooster that's temperament is unknown.
Do you live close to neighbours? Very few neighbours will put up with a rooster crowing at 4:30am without complaining and very few suburban areas allow them.

Another reason to buy a rooster is so you can hatch eggs. This is all very exciting but at the end of the day half the eggs you hatch will be more roosters. You cannot keep all those extra roosters without there being fights in a small flock.
Re homing young roosters is not always easy and you need to be prepared for the chance they could be going to someone's dinner table not only a happy home in the country.
You cannot let extra roosters go in the wild because they are not wild birds and can't look after themselves so they will either die of starvation or be eaten by predators. So it's actually less cruel to let someone kill them quickly for dinner.

Sorry to be such a downer but you sound like you are very new to chickens so it's important you know the facts before purchasing a rooster so you can make on informed decision knowing the problems as well as the fun bits.