Boys and girls...

[Ducky3pl]

So like a lot of other new chicken Moms, I got my chicks from TSC. We ended up with an interesting mix. So Heihei has silkie feathers, had orange legs, light skin, and orange beak when we first got "him?". Heihei has 5 toes, and the legs turned dark, but beak is still orange and skin is light. We know that we have a cross breed and think it is a roo, but I'd like some other opinions. First 3 pictures...

Next up is Mooshoo which is completely silkie. We think Mooshoo is a hen, but she would be a bigger hen than the smallest one in the bunch. 4 pictures...

Nugget is as the name implies and tiny. We think Nugget is a hen as well, but would like some feedback. Last 4 pictures....
Our babies are about 3 months old as we feel like some of them may have been about a week old when we got them...so give or take about a week. 11-12 weeks..
We have 6 chickens and it looks like we may have 4 Roos and 2 Hens. These 3 were are still on the fence on..

 

[Silviaschicks]

silkies are notoriously hard to sex, but pics 5, 6, 7, 8 look like roos (not 100% sure)

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

I'm thinking all cockerels. I wouldn't assume crossbreed, I am just thinking hatchery-quality Silkie

 

[Ducky3pl]

I'm thinking all cockerels. I wouldn't assume crossbreed, I am just thinking hatchery-quality Silkie

I am surprised...i figured the last 2 chickens were hens. They don't act like the others. If that is the case, I may have a batch of all roos...omg

 

[Ducky3pl]

silkies are notoriously hard to sex, but pics 5, 6, 7, 8 look like roos (not 100% sure)

These are my other 2 which I know have to be roos. These 3 that I posted first were the ones I was unsure of...

 

[EggSighted4Life]

We know that we have a cross breed

Hi there, hope you are enjoying BYC!
Nope.. not crossbred.. just hatchery (pet) quality and mostly non bearded Silkies (from Hoover's). First generation cross breeds won't get silky feathers, they would be hard feathered.

If your planning to breed the light skin and less toes would be things you would cull for IF breeding to the standard of perfection and maintaining quality of the breed was important to you. Many of them do have incorrect combs as well, so I can definitely see why one would think cross and hope it shows why one SHOULD select for qualities instead of multiplying anomalies.. depending on THEIR goal of course.

I bred Silkies for a few years, they were too broody for me. The blue ear lobes are beautiful! But the combs and toes are challenging to get perfectly correct as well the skin color in some varieties. Despite not being show quality (or breeding truly).. maybe they will actually more well rounded and give you a great fluffy experience!

ETA: I don't think all are males. but there's too many pics for my late evening brain to process right now!

 

[Ducky3pl]

Hi there, hope you are enjoying BYC!
Nope.. not crossbred.. just hatchery (pet) quality and mostly non bearded Silkies (from Hoover's). First generation cross breeds won't get silky feathers, they would be hard feathered.

If your planning to breed the light skin and less toes would be things you would cull for IF breeding to the standard of perfection and maintaining quality of the breed was important to you. Many of them do have incorrect combs as well, so I can definitely see why one would think cross and hope it shows why one SHOULD select for qualities instead of multiplying anomalies.. depending on THEIR goal of course.

I bred Silkies for a few years, they were too broody for me. The blue ear lobes are beautiful! But the combs and toes are challenging to get perfectly correct as well the skin color in some varieties. Despite not being show quality (or breeding truly).. maybe they will actually more well rounded and give you a great fluffy experience!

They are more pets and homestead helpers more than anything. So the imperfections make them perfect for my backyard. I am just hoping that I have some hens in my bunch and not all roos. I live in a suburban community and trying to not make my neighbors upset with loud roos. Our plan is to keep only 2 roos and 2 hens IF we even have any... I may have to wait until they are ready to lay or crow, but want to prepare for re-homing our roos to another silkie lover. He is trying to build his stock back up as they love and sell the eggs. He has recently lost 2 hens to eagles and only has 2 hens left. So he is willing to take my roos.