cockrell or pullet?

[Chicklove4ever]

Hi i just got my lavender silkie two weeks ago.It was already 6 7 weeks old when i got it. I know your supposed to wait til they crow or lay an egg to really determine the gender but i was hoping someone with more silke experience and a good eye could help me out.I have three silkies total the other two are 3 weeks old white silkes,

ive had since they were 3 days old.I feel the lavender silke might be a cockrell and the problem with that is im pretty sure my white silkes are one pullet and one cockrell because i whatched them grow behavior size and fetthering are different between my little white ones.My only problem is that i dont think i can keep both roos and one pullet because im not planing on getting more pullets.My silkies are not coop chickens they are spoiled house chickens and i dont want them to fight if they could live in peace with on pullet that would be awsome but it might be wishful thinking

 

[casportpony]

Adorable! I have asked the Silkie experts to come take a look at your thread.

 

[LynnaePB]

I find before 10 weeks it is often very difficult to guess sex (except in some cases where a little male develops a significantly larger comb very early on). I find my males are more often a little bigger and a little more rowdy with each other (having little sparing matches) than the girls. However guessing based off size and behavior is still only a little better than a 50/50 chance as I've had a lot of girls that acted like males and plenty of tiny shy little males who acted more like females.

In my experience the earliest more reliable sign of sex is probably comb growth and presence of streamers (longer feathers that grow out of the back of the crest in males).

Some of my earlier developing males have a noticeably larger comb by 10 weeks and are just starting to grow streamers at this time as well.

If you aren't familiar with how streamers look I just answered a question about them in this silkie thread the other day and posted some example pics. The pictures I posted are on page 235, 3rd post down. Another bycer posted some really nice pictures of a male crest and streamers vs a females on birds that were a bit older as well which is the 5th post on the same page.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkies-they’re-simply-spectacular.1334299/page-235

Good luck guessing with your little ones, I don't have a guess this young but they are adorable!

 

[Chicklove4ever]

Adorable! I have asked the Silkie experts to come take a look at your thread.

Thank you soo much!

 

[Chicklove4ever]

I find before 10 weeks it is often very difficult to guess sex (except in some cases where a little male develops a significantly larger comb very early on). I find my males are more often a little bigger and a little more rowdy with each other (having little sparing matches) than the girls. However guessing based off size and behavior is still only a little better than a 50/50 chance as I've had a lot of girls that acted like males and plenty of tiny shy little males who acted more like females.

In my experience the earliest more reliable sign of sex is probably comb growth and presence of streamers (longer feathers that grow out of the back of the crest in males).

Some of my earlier developing males have a noticeably larger comb by 10 weeks and are just starting to grow streamers at this time as well.

If you aren't familiar with how streamers look I just answered a question about them in this silkie thread the other day and posted some example pics. The pictures I posted are on page 235, 3rd post down. Another bycer posted some really nice pictures of a male crest and streamers vs a females on birds that were a bit older as well which is the 5th post on the same page.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkies-they’re-simply-spectacular.1334299/page-235

Good luck guessing with your little ones, I don't have a guess this young but they are adorable!

Thank you for the link about the streamers it helped.Do streamers feel straw like or are they soft? In the pics they look lake they would feel a little rough.Gizmos just soft fluff so i was wonderingthanks!

 

[BottEst2020]

The pics I am about to show are our 3 Easter Eggers and 2 sussex, they were hatched on the same day and all supposed to be the same age, it is driving me crazy not knowing what we have because the guy we got them from apparently hasn't got the sexing technique down pat, he said he would be able to tell in about a week, if we have more roosters then 1, cause we only want 1 roo in our coop, he will swap them out for a hen, which is awesome, but I hate to do that cause they have been with us since 3 days old and it breaks my heart, I am a HUGE animal lover, although they are just birds, they have feelings too, my question is, and I know it may be to soon, but these will be 5 weeks on Sunday, I'm just asking, what do you see so far with these little gems, pullets or cockerel's ? I know I may have to wait some more time which is fine by me, I just wanna see if my guesses are close on what these fellows are, thanks in advance, and thank you for accepting us into the group, we are know as Melissa & Mark,
oh, PS. I put a pick of one of our silkies in the photos, we have 4 of those, thinking this one is a roo, behavior wise, and size, there is 2 that are much bigger then the other 2, and they are always bowing up at each other, but the biggest one is very protective of the other small ones, but I will have to wait and see, patiently waiting to see what we have..

 

[LynnaePB]

Thank you for the link about the streamers it helped.Do streamers feel straw like or are they soft? In the pics they look lake they would feel a little rough.Gizmos just soft fluff so i was wonderingthanks!

That's a good question, they do look a little stiffer than regular silkie feathers. I went out and felt the streamers on some of my younger boys who are just getting them in as well as some of my fully mature males. They are actually very soft/silkie feeling especially so in the younger boys. If you look at them really closely you can see a long feather shaft running down the center of each streamer (each one is an individual very thin feather) which is a bit different than the regular silkie fluff that kind of poofs out far from the feather shaft. It can be hard to see in the younger males but as they get older I usually start to notice a shine/glint to the streamers depending on the light hitting them.

Your little lavender looks like she/he has some maturing to do before streamers may start to show up if she/he is a male. When the crest comes in more fully you'll probably get a better idea. 10-11 weeks is when I'm starting to notice streamers in a lot of my flocks offspring. I hatched some eggs from another breeder this year as well and the chicks from her eggs seem to have just started growing their streamers about a week ago at 12 weeks. I think it can vary pretty widely depending on genetics and the individual bird so you could be in for a wait. I hope your little ones don't keep you guessing too long though!

The pics I am about to show are our 3 Easter Eggers and 2 sussex, they were hatched on the same day and all supposed to be the same age, it is driving me crazy not knowing what we have because the guy we got them from apparently hasn't got the sexing technique down pat, he said he would be able to tell in about a week, if we have more roosters then 1, cause we only want 1 roo in our coop, he will swap them out for a hen, which is awesome, but I hate to do that cause they have been with us since 3 days old and it breaks my heart, I am a HUGE animal lover, although they are just birds, they have feelings too, my question is, and I know it may be to soon, but these will be 5 weeks on Sunday, I'm just asking, what do you see so far with these little gems, pullets or cockerel's ? I know I may have to wait some more time which is fine by me, I just wanna see if my guesses are close on what these fellows are, thanks in advance, and thank you for accepting us into the group, we are know as Melissa & Mark,
oh, PS. I put a pick of one of our silkies in the photos, we have 4 of those, thinking this one is a roo, behavior wise, and size, there is 2 that are much bigger then the other 2, and they are always bowing up at each other, but the biggest one is very protective of the other small ones, but I will have to wait and see, patiently waiting to see what we have..

Adorable babies! As far as the little silkies go sounds like the two bigger ones are displaying typical male behavior. It's too bad the females sometimes also show typical male behavior, little buggers really throw a wrench into sexing based on behavior when they do that!

I'm afraid I'm not much help in guessing gender on the EEs and sussex as I don't have enough experience with breeds other than silkies. I'd say it's a good sign that the EEs appear to not have much red/pink to their combs yet (though it could definitely be too early to tell). Hopefully someone with more experience with those breeds will be along and able to help more.

 

[BottEst2020]

That's a good question, they do look a little stiffer than regular silkie feathers. I went out and felt the streamers on some of my younger boys who are just getting them in as well as some of my fully mature males. They are actually very soft/silkie feeling especially so in the younger boys. If you look at them really closely you can see a long feather shaft running down the center of each streamer (each one is an individual very thin feather) which is a bit different than the regular silkie fluff that kind of poofs out far from the feather shaft. It can be hard to see in the younger males but as they get older I usually start to notice a shine/glint to the streamers depending on the light hitting them.

Your little lavender looks like she/he has some maturing to do before streamers may start to show up if she/he is a male. When the crest comes in more fully you'll probably get a better idea. 10-11 weeks is when I'm starting to notice streamers in a lot of my flocks offspring. I hatched some eggs from another breeder this year as well and the chicks from her eggs seem to have just started growing their streamers about a week ago at 12 weeks. I think it can vary pretty widely depending on genetics and the individual bird so you could be in for a wait. I hope your little ones don't keep you guessing too long though!



Adorable babies! As far as the little silkies go sounds like the two bigger ones are displaying typical male behavior. It's too bad the females sometimes also show typical male behavior, little buggers really throw a wrench into sexing based on behavior when they do that!

I'm afraid I'm not much help in guessing gender on the EEs and sussex as I don't have enough experience with breeds other than silkies. I'd say it's a good sign that the EEs appear to not have much red/pink to their combs yet (though it could definitely be too early to tell). Hopefully someone with more experience with those breeds will be along and able to help more.

thank you for your help it's kindly appreciated