Fertilized?

[kherokee]

I was wondering if this egg yolk is fertile or not. We currently have a silkie and three hens. (Silkie (s)he just turned 4 months). We're not sure if we missed an egg, but we found 4 today (from 4 chickens).

So basically, we have no idea if my silkie is a boy or girl. (s)he has traits of both, including trying to be broody, but also grabbing his mothers neck (not sure he's trying to breed. the other hens chase him/her away after that).

So Im not sure if (s)he is now laying eggs and can finally be a girl, or if (s)he is fertilizing eggs and we've been missing a couple...

Ive also never owned a silkie before, so i dont know their egg size. I have one Sumatra who lays fairly big eggs, a Serama, and Jap Bantam. Not sure if I can tell who laid what egg haha!

Thanks so much for any advice and tips!!

 

[kherokee]

I took a picture of a knowing infertile egg next to it (no bullseye) next to the suspected fertile one

 

[Boom Boom Chick]

if you have a boy it would crow every morning and would attack you and also woukd have slurs at the bottom if its leggs

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

if you have a boy it would crow every morning and would attack you and also woukd have slurs at the bottom if its leggs

Some roosters are slow to crow and one of mine took about a year to learn to crow. Also, not all roosters attack people.

 

[Boom Boom Chick]

Yes true my rooster(phil) attacks me to protect his lady friend (football) also you can check his/hers legs and see if there a bump on it top of it laggs because hens only have one and thats its thumb

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Yes true my rooster(phil) attacks me to protect his lady friend (football) also you can check his/hers legs and see if there a bump on it top of it laggs because hens only have one and thats its thumb

The presence or absence of spurs is entirely unreliable in gender determination - this is because many roosters will never develop spurs and many hens do.

 

[kherokee]

I know my Sumatra hen has spurs because of the breed line, but she's for sure a lady so I never really trust spurs

The presence or absence of spurs is entirely unreliable in gender determination - this is because many roosters will never develop spurs and many hens do.

 

[Kev]

Silkie is a rooster.

 

[kherokee]

Silkie is a rooster.

omg i had a whole topic just on figuring out if he's a rooster, which I thought he was the entire time but everyone said pullet. Im pretty positive he's mounted his surrogate mother a couple times today which has me wondering about the eggs

 

[Kev]

To be fair, he is a little softer looking than the typical silkie rooster and to begin with, they are a little hard for many people to sex.

I used to have silkies, which helped in my guessing.

It's extremely uncommon for hens, especially young ones to be mounting other hens. In fact, I have never seen it.. a few people have claimed to seeing it or having a hen that mounts with some regularity..... but to date, no pictures or videos. So if that silkie has been grabbing and holding on to necks or backs and trying to get on then failing, that is typical cockerel behavior starting to feel the mating instinct but not knowing how to do it yet, especially with hens that are fighting or resisting him.

True mounting is grabbing, climbing on and then the rooster does a 'shaking' that ends with his tail going down and pressing against the hen before getting off. If that's what you're seeing, it's a rooster for sure.