Help silkie people, boy or girl

[justsidney]

I'm not sure how to post pictures, but I wanted to ask people who have had silkies before....
My first flock of chicks (first ever) is now 3 months old. I ordered all pullets, and I know my sebright turned out to be a cockrel (huge comb and waddles, struts around and crows). I was hoping that was my only surprise, but now I am starting to worry about my little blue silkie. She (I hope) is normally good natured, and she is bullied a little by the others, but man, the last few days she has stood up for herself against the little roo! She never crows or struts around, but they faced off! How early can you tell if a silkie is male or female? Anyone have pictres of a male at about 3 months? Or pictures of a hen? If my silkie is a roo, I might just start a little fock of silkies, anyone near Bloomington Indiana who has a few young female silkies?

 

[Guitartists]

Here's my roo Charli.....

You will notice the size of his feet (HUGE) the big wide plump comb and the way his feathers on his head spike toward the back, like they kinda lay down. Hope that helps

The females will have more of a round poof on their heads, narrower flatter combs and smaller, thinner legs.

 

[LilPeeps]

Here's a pullet an cockerel at 3 months

Pullet

cockerel

 

[justsidney]

Aww, you should be a photographer! Great pics! Mine looks similar to yours, but he/she does not have a walnut shaped comb, he/she has more of a singular kind of comb. Otherwise he/she has all the sighns of being a silkie... fuzzy feet, furry looking all over, black skin, extra toes. Thanks for the help! I'm asking my husband how to put pictures on right now, I'll get some on here if I can.

 

[ChickenWendy]

lilpeeps, what exactly would be difference between those to besides the obvious color? just curious because i have 8 silkies i want to start identifying by male or female.

 

[LilPeeps]

Quote:
The body shape is different, it's kinda hard to tell in these pics, but the males will be more upright, and will develop a larger comb. As you can see in the pics, the pullet's crest is more globular, where the cockerel's has more of a sweeping look to it, you can see streamers coming from the back of his crest. Also, if you look at the body shape, the females are generally more round than the males.

Do you have pics of your silkies?

 

[justsidney]

C:\\Documents and Settings\\Brenden\\My Documents\\My Pictures\\Adobe\\Digital Camera Photos\\spring 08 orbs ect\\P6010107.JPG

 

[LilPeeps]

Sidney, you need to upload your pics to a photo hosting site like photobucket.com then use the "direct link" for that pic ans put that in your post

 

[justsidney]

Darn, I knew that wouldn't work. Call it an experiment.
I just got done reading some articles about sexing silkies, and I am feeling discouraged. Most of those sites said even people familar with silkies can't always tell, they are the toughest to sex, and sometimes it takes 9 months to a year to know for sure! Anyway, the real reason I even want to know if my silkie is a boy or a girl is this: I already have one rooster, how is this going to work if my silkie is a rooster? Will they end up killing each other before I even know if my silkie is a roo? I am pretty attached to my 8 little chickens, so I would do anything to keep everyone safe and happy... If they are so androgenouse, will it even matter if the two roos are in the coop together? Golly, chicken genders are complicated!

 

[tiki244]

Yeah I know what you mean. And there are some people who will argue that chickens dont have genders.

I clicked on this thread to see what the verdict was because I have some young silkies and do not have a clue.

I dont think if you have two cockerels they will kill each other, at least not for a while. They are pretty good untill they get older, and if they are raised together they even get along better. But I am by no means an expert. I think also it depends on each individual roo. I had 4 roos with hens in one pen for quite a while. #1 was boss, #2 was under him, and 3 and 4 would hang out in the coop but always be on the look out to see if #1 wasnt paying attention

Poor Albert (#1), he had to run back and forth keeping all the hens in line and making sure 2, 3, and 4 werent taking any liberties.

And the hens would always group off in about 3 or 4 different directions. It was very fun to watch.
Then I had 2 modern games and they couldnt be kept together for more than a few minutes.