hens that are cockerels!

[tracy 5447]

Hi
i bought 2 silkie cross hens 8 weeks ago when they where 10 weeks old. the seller said they were hens but couldn't be sure, there was a much bigger one there which she thought was the male. anyway one of them started to crow loudly today, a proper crow too, not even a practice one. the problem is i only have 4 birds and this one is now obviously male and its partner (the second silkie x ) looks identical. i think it might be male too although its not crowing. How much of a situation is this ?
i could try and find a new home but it will take a bit of time and if the other is male would 2 young males be a danger to 2 older hens in the short term, i don't have a spare coop as yet.
I will try and post a pic of the 2 of them.
Thanks in advance

 

[azygous]

A second cockerel does complicate things. Crowing is a dead give-away. Hens do crow (I have two that do) but it usually takes them a couple years to perfect it.

You can always separate one cockerel from the flock during the day. This is what I do with my two boys. One is the son of the rooster, and he's around nine months old and crazed with hormones. He spends the day patrolling the outside of the run but he still sleeps in the coop with hens.

Yes, he's vulnerable to predators, but roaming free and no hens to protect, he has a much better chance of outmaneuvering something that wishes to eat him. It really does help keep the peace.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yeah, Silkies can be hard to sex but crowing is a dead giveaway. Pleas post the photos of both to confirm but be prepared for the answer.

The way I understand it you have a cockerel 18 weeks old, another bird 18 weeks old that you suspect might be a cockerel, and two older hens but age unknown. Your question is, in the short term are your hens in danger from him or them.

You are dealing with living animals, no one can tell you for sure what will happen. I can see several different possible scenarios. Not knowing the sex of the second one does add complications.

It's possible if he gets frisky toward the hens (assuming they are more mature) that they will beat the crap out of him. They probably will not hurt or injure him but they might smack him around. But sometimes older hens can be pretty brutal toward cockerels. There are some women on this forum that seem to get a real kick when that happens.

He is probably bigger than them. His hormones may cause him to try to mate, vigorously try to mate. If they resist he might force them. Usually this is not that big of a deal, usually no one is injured. But when force is involved injury is possible.

You may never see an issue. They may work it out extremely peacefully. My guess is that it will be somewhere between 2 & 3. Not totally peaceful but not all that bad. Another complicating factor is that some cockerels get frisky before 15 weeks, some wait for several more months. So the timing is totally unknown.

If the second is a cockerel it may make it worse or it may not. A lot o that depends on his rate of maturity. Two frisky cockerels at the same time can get kind of rowdy. But if one is mature enough to totally dominate the other, it probably will not be bad.

So my suggestion is to post those photos and see if we can tell what sex they are. Then make plans to deal with it. But don't do anything dramatic or drastic yet. You probably have time.

 

[tracy 5447]

Hi, Thanks for the replies, Just to clarify, i have 2 18 week silkie x both from the same mother, one is definitely a cockerel. (the grey one) the black one looks the same but isn't as red on its forehead. the other 2 are 18 months and 1 year.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think the black one is also a male. Notice how the tail feathers are bending down. Sorry.

 

[tracy 5447]

aw, i thought so, if i had more room i would keep them and get more hens but 2 boys and 2 girls just wouldn't work. I was fond of the silkies. thats a shame. i will try and revoke them. thanks for the advice

 

[tracy 5447]

re- home i mean

 

[CCUK]

I could be wrong but are you sure they are silkies?

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

I could be wrong but are you sure they are silkies?

They are Silkie crosses.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

Cockerels