Early silkie sexing?

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

Thanks!

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Your welcome!

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

@Stacyoung13

 

[Stacyoung13]

Waaaaaay to early!! But it’s fun to guess #s 7-6-5-4-2 look to have the best chances of being Cockerels. But we still have a long time to prove me wrong

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

#2 is an early cockerel. The rest are too young. Post pics of the comb, crest, and saddle at 12 weeks.

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

Even though he has a single comb?

#2 is an early cockerel. The rest are too young. Post pics of the comb, crest, and saddle at 12 weeks.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Way too early...Silkies are notorious for being difficult to sex.

Generally females get no comb development, so those that have little comb have the best chances...those that are already starting to develop comb the least.

But it's a long way off from certainty.

Post pics at about 10-12 weeks.
LofMc

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

Even though he has a single comb?

Yes. Silkies are slow developing, that is why it's best to wait. The single comb is just a genetic fluke that happens a lot at hatcheries. You could try and sex silkies at a young age, and say they were females, because they didn't show any male traits, but then when they grow older, and say it was a male, it just took longer for it to mature. So 12 weeks is about the safe age to say a bird is a pullet, if it's not showing any male traits. Sometimes if you have a particularly tricky bird, you have to wait longer, but that doesn't happen too often.

 

[drumstick diva]

Silkies are one of the most difficult breeds to sex before 4-5 mos. of age, and in some instances NOT until they crow or lay eggs. If you want early guesses, realize that they are ONLY guesses. Any determination of gender will be 50-50.

 

[Stacyoung13]

And sometimes you get a female with a comb like this.

I couldn’t make up my mind until she laid an egg at about 7 months. Then my 4 month little girl crowed for the first time Monday

Holly is now Harley.