How to Sex Silkies

Nicole_Hutchison

Songster
Feb 8, 2019
232
259
166
Fayetteville, AR
I know trying to determine the sex of a silkie is very difficult and almost impossible at 5 weeks, but hoping for someone to give me some key things to look for in male silkies vs female silkies that I would be able to recognize as my chicks get older. Also yes they are all 5 weeks but small bantams. There are two pic of every chick - one of the body and one of the comb. With other breeds by this time (5weeks) you might start to see a colored/reddish colored comb or wattles, saddle feathers, etc. but my understanding is that does not really apply to the silkie breed. I am going to start breeding Silkies in the Spring and want to start educating myself now. What do I look out for and any call outs in the pictures that typically mean male/female?
 

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Yes, you have several that are single combed which is recessive and pops up in Silkies. Most commonly in hatchery stock, but I’ve also had a few from well-known breeders that popped up with the single comb. I chose to sell these and not use them in my breeding program, but if you’re just breeding for your own enjoyment then it does not really matter.
Yes, yours are too young to sex, somethings like behavior can clue
you in earlier. Your single combed ones will be obvious at a younger age.
@PippinTheChicken article is excellent and there are other ones as well if you look under the article section under Sexing Silkies, you will get much useful information.😊
If you want to practice on learning how to do this yourself, I would review many of the threads here on BYC where folks have posted their young birds for evaluation.
 
Thank you, I look at the feedback on here all the time and it has been helpful. Can you give me a little more info on the single comb - why will my single comb silkies be more obvious on the sex at a younger age?
Because like other chickens with single combs the combs will get larger and develop color at an earlier age than if the silkie had a walnut comb. These birds will also often develop wattles at a younger age if they are male.😊
 
Ok let’s see how close I got:
1: female
2: male
3: female
4: male
5: female
Close!😃
1. female
2. male
3. female
4. female
5. male

It was a bit tricky, I admit. The 4th bird has a very wide comb, which many use to determine gender, but this can be misleading as this pullet demonstrates. The bird in the 5th photo has a single comb, but it is difficult to see in the photo.
You did great.😊 I just wanted also to illustrate how hard it can be to tell when silkies are young. Keep practicing, you are on the right track.

Here are photos of the same birds as older juveniles and adults for comparison. I sold the pullet in the 4th photo, she is about 14 weeks old in this photo and also the blue cockerel, he is about 4 months old here.😊
E35ECD25-CC1A-4108-819F-9CDE2ED45FA8.jpeg
03F2C7EE-FF57-4548-8C16-AE8D1E811E82.jpeg
34B0CCFA-4D15-4122-ACB5-46E0C4843169.jpeg
F6EA33FC-A4E1-46F3-9749-5CEE99CA83EC.jpeg
912755D2-358C-4637-8B56-FE0862C82CAE.jpeg
 
Close!😃
1. female
2. male
3. female
4. female
5. male

It was a bit tricky, I admit. The 4th bird has a very wide comb, which many use to determine gender, but this can be misleading as this pullet demonstrates. The bird in the 5th photo has a single comb, but it is difficult to see in the photo.
You did great.😊 I just wanted also to illustrate how hard it can be to tell when silkies are young. Keep practicing, you are on the right track.

Here are photos of the same birds as older juveniles and adults for comparison. I sold the pullet in the 4th photo, she is about 14 weeks old in this photo and also the blue cockerel, he is about 4 months old here.😊
View attachment 2857965View attachment 2857967View attachment 2857966View attachment 2857976View attachment 2857968
This is great super helpful, thank you! Will keep doing research and trying to determine the gender of silkies!
 
Yes, you have several that are single combed which is recessive and pops up in Silkies. Most commonly in hatchery stock, but I’ve also had a few from well-known breeders that popped up with the single comb. I chose to sell these and not use them in my breeding program, but if you’re just breeding for your own enjoyment then it does not really matter.
Yes, yours are too young to sex, somethings like behavior can clue
you in earlier. Your single combed ones will be obvious at a younger age.
@PippinTheChicken article is excellent and there are other ones as well if you look under the article section under Sexing Silkies, you will get much useful information.😊
If you want to practice on learning how to do this yourself, I would review many of the threads here on BYC where folks have posted their young birds for evaluation.
Thank you, I look at the feedback on here all the time and it has been helpful. Can you give me a little more info on the single comb - why will my single comb silkies be more obvious on the sex at a younger age?
 

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