Day old Silkie/polish cross

[Gmr1089]

Any tips on how to tell if my new chicks are male or female? I know it's hard to tell with these guys because they mature so late, but I figured I'd see if anyone here had any tips of what to watch for at an early age

 

[Aunt Angus]

Oh, gosh! Silkies are the hardest. I thought I had a cockerel for sure - 100% - until "he" laid an egg!

So, I'd have to say DNA testing? You can get them for birds...

Are they Silkue feathered or hard feathered? That will make a difference.

 

[Gmr1089]

Oh, gosh! Silkies are the hardest. I thought I had a cockerel for sure - 100% - until "he" laid an egg!

So, I'd have to say DNA testing? You can get them for birds...

Are they Silkue feathered or hard feathered? That will make a difference.

Aw man, I'm definitely not wanting to pay for testing, so I guess I'll just have to sit tight! This one is one week older than the others and has hard feathering

 

[Aunt Angus]

Oh my gosh! So cute!!!

In Silkies, you look for streamer development. If you see long, uneven feathers streaming out of its crest, you probably have a boy. But who knows how this cutie will feather out? It could be wattle/comb development you want to look for.

Heck... maybe look for all of them? I will say DNA testing isn't crazy pricey - like maybe $20, but it depends on how badly you want to know! Haha!

I hope you post lots of pictures of his/her development. It's kind of like a mystery!

 

[Oncoming Storm]

Silkie roosters look much more ragged and have more hard feathers. But also look for the polish tells as well. Polish roosters look like they have David Bowie hair from the Labrinth while hens have the poof. It looks like your baby inherited more polish than silkie from just the look of it. Very cute.

 

[Gmr1089]

Here are my other ones that hatched yesterday. Definitely excited to see how they turn out!

 

[Gmr1089]

I know these guys are hard to sex at such a young age, but one of my chicks is showing a developed comb while the others are flat where the comb would be (aged 4 weeks and one is 5 weeks). Does this mean anything? The third chick is the one growing a noticeable comb, chick 4 is the oldest

 

[samgray0780]

So cute! I am currently incubating/hatching a combination of eggs at this moment Turkey, duck and silkie/polish eggs. This is my first time to try all this out. Just 2 days ago, one of them hatched on me! It turned out to be one of my silkie/polish eggs.....I think I had mistaken it for one of the smaller whit duck eggs (idk) and put it in the incubator with the ducks and turkeys (since the need an extra week ahead of the chickens). Anyway, here is a picture of our little one. Momma is a Polish, all black with a white poof and dad is an all white silkie

 

[Gmr1089]

So cute! I am currently incubating/hatching a combination of eggs at this moment Turkey, duck and silkie/polish eggs. This is my first time to try all this out. Just 2 days ago, one of them hatched on me! It turned out to be one of my silkie/polish eggs.....I think I had mistaken it for one of the smaller whit duck eggs (idk) and put it in the incubator with the ducks and turkeys (since the need an extra week ahead of the chickens). Anyway, here is a picture of our little one. Momma is a Polish, all black with a white poof and dad is an all white silkie

So cute! One of mine was taken by a coyote mid day recently, but heres how mine turned out! (All girls!)

 

[Allthefloofs]

DNA testing is 11.99, I did it for three of my tolbunt Polish when I hatched. I had results in about 5 days. It was relatively simple, the place I used is this one: https://iqbirdtesting.com

I had three girls, I guess I got lucky!