Can Silkies be large size?

[lauriefishies]

In the British standards we have both Large Fowl Silkies and Bantam Silkies (there is also 'regular' Silkies that are in between and don't fit either class).

Bantam are around half the size of your standard Chicken whereas the Large Fowl are pretty big.

At my last show I saw a Large Fowl Silkie Cockerel that was the same size as my Large Fowl Light Sussex cockerel. I never knew Silkies could be so big.

Due to where you are located, I believe there is mainly just Silkie Bantams were you live, so your birds size could be due to cross breeding/poor breeding.?

Regardless, I still think he is lovely!

Do you think its a Roo? Im hoping not but looks like it has hard tail feathers, thick legs and stands tall. Does flare out neck when chest bumping one of my hens. I believe my Rooster is an Old English Game Bantam about the size of a pigeon. Im afraid he will get hurt if that giant silkie is a cockerel. My little Roo is not aggressive at all.

 

[lauriefishies]

Bad quality Silkie male.

Owner who surrendered it said it was from a breeder. Im thinking probably it came from a feed store so that sounds about right it having bad genes or mixed.

 

[lauriefishies]

View attachment 1831382 I think it looks like a mix. Absolutely adorable though. Look at the difference in body type.

Beautiful silkie you have! He looks more like the black silkie roo we have at the farm rescue but yours is better looking. Unlike my White giant who knows what it is silkie at my home. I named it after my sister Mary. If Mary is a Roo I guess he will be going to the rescue for adoption unless he continues to get along with my little Rooster.

 

[HuffleClaw]

Bad quality Silkie male.

I agree. The OP has a Hatchery quality silkie cockerel. Hatchery Silkies are often cut short of anything bred to the SOP He is lovely nonetheless

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Do you think its a Roo? Im hoping not but looks like it has hard tail feathers, thick legs and stands tall. Does flare out neck when chest bumping one of my hens. I believe my Rooster is an Old English Game Bantam about the size of a pigeon. Im afraid he will get hurt if that giant silkie is a cockerel. My little Roo is not aggressive at all.

Due to the size and general shape of him I'd say yes a Cockerel.

However, if he is crossed with something it can make it even more difficult to sex them as you don't know what to really expect.

The tail feathers can be hard in females to, that comes down to the breeding.

If he's already started having a go at getting the females attention I'd say even more chance he's a Cockerel. Maybe some better photos of his face and stance from the side would be better.

I also have a Bantam D'Anvers rooster who's the size of a pigeon and he gets on fine with my Silkie Cockerel. They occasionally have a stand off with their neck feathered ruffled up but no physical fighting. Mine stick to their own hens and have enough space.

Some can get along, others not so much. Just keep an eye but if there is any fighting both cockerels could get injured. It may be best to move him on if so.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Oh, an additional note about crest size too!

The European (British) standard Silkies have smaller crests to, the super large crests aren't admirable over here. Although, some judges do still like them, depends really.

Maybe your bird was part of some imported European stock or maybe a breeder has attempted to achieve that themselves (or it was done by crossing or by 'accident'). I guess you'll never really know. Regardless he's still cute in my eyes!

As you can see my Cockerel has a small crest but that's accepted here

 

[lauriefishies]

Oh, an additional note about crest size too!

The European (British) standard Silkies have smaller crests to, the super large crests aren't admirable over here. Although, some judges do still like them, depends really.

Maybe your bird was part of some imported European stock or maybe a breeder has attempted to achieve that themselves (or it was done by crossing or by 'accident'). I guess you'll never really know. Regardless he's still cute in my eyes!

As you can see my Cockerel has a small crest but that's accepted here

View attachment 1831485

Nice looking fellow! Yours looks sweet and cuddly. Mine looks like big doofus!

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Nice looking fellow! Yours looks sweet and cuddly. Mine looks like big doofus!

Haha well he is very sweet to his ladies but doesn't care much for sharing his food...

I was tempted to go into getting Large Fowl Silkies because they're pretty on a whole different scale. Quite literally!

Sometimes the birds that are a little different looking are the best ones to have around!

 

[AmyJane725]

I think he's an oversized True Bantam Silkie Asian Broiler. They're not like the floofy show silkies. They don't have beards or big crests and a lot of them have single combs instead of the walnut. They're bigger than normal silkies too (around 3.5 lbs) but yours is huge even for that.

 

[emilythestrange]

Oh, an additional note about crest size too!

The European (British) standard Silkies have smaller crests to, the super large crests aren't admirable over here. Although, some judges do still like them, depends really.

Maybe your bird was part of some imported European stock or maybe a breeder has attempted to achieve that themselves (or it was done by crossing or by 'accident'). I guess you'll never really know. Regardless he's still cute in my eyes!

As you can see my Cockerel has a small crest but that's accepted here

View attachment 1831485

He’s beautiful