Is this a silkie rooster or a hen?

Loweryfarm

In the Brooder
Nov 16, 2021
15
30
36
Indianapolis, Indiana
I got what I thought was a silkie rooster from a lady. It doesn’t crow, and if it is a rooster then it’s definitely the beta rooster Bc I have a larger white RIR rooster who leads the flock. They don’t fight each other, when I initially put it in the flock, my RIR wing danced near it like it was a hen and then proceeded to mate or try to mate it about 17 times. The silkie fought and squawked like the first few times but then kinda just took it the rest. Could that be the RIR’s way of saying it’s the alpha? Also haven’t seen the RIR try to mate it since the first day anymore. My two LARGE black Orpingtons will bully it away so it stays away from them, and my brown ISA will peck at it too however the RIR rooster and the leghorn hen seem to coexist with it fine now. Also when the RIR try’s to mate the leghorn the silkie will start pecking the RIR and interrupt the mating and the RIR just walks off. Anyone Able to identify the sex of this silkie and explain the weird behavior?

I’m leaning towards super beta silkie rooster.
 

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Hello! Welcome to BYC!
it's definitely a rooster because of the large comb, streamers, and sickles.
He's very beautiful.
I also have a silkie roo that doesn't crow. I'm not sure if he ever will because he's quite strange. Maybe yours is a late crower, and it will take a year until he's ready.
Here's my silkie sexing article if you're interested.
Pippin's easy guide to silkie sexing

Pippin's easy guide to silkie sexing

Hello there! When I hatched my own silkies, I studied and studied about how to sex them. I read that it was almost impossible to sex them, and that you had to wait for a crow or an egg. Raising and watching them helped me pick out certain traits that only belong to roosters or hens. These...
 
I got what I thought was a silkie rooster from a lady. It doesn’t crow, and if it is a rooster then it’s definitely the beta rooster Bc I have a larger white RIR rooster who leads the flock. They don’t fight each other, when I initially put it in the flock, my RIR wing danced near it like it was a hen and then proceeded to mate or try to mate it about 17 times. The silkie fought and squawked like the first few times but then kinda just took it the rest. Could that be the RIR’s way of saying it’s the alpha? Also haven’t seen the RIR try to mate it since the first day anymore. My two LARGE black Orpingtons will bully it away so it stays away from them, and my brown ISA will peck at it too however the RIR rooster and the leghorn hen seem to coexist with it fine now. Also when the RIR try’s to mate the leghorn the silkie will start pecking the RIR and interrupt the mating and the RIR just walks off. Anyone Able to identify the sex of this silkie and explain the weird behavior?

I’m leaning towards super beta silkie rooster.
Definitely a cockerel.
 
I got what I thought was a silkie rooster from a lady. It doesn’t crow, and if it is a rooster then it’s definitely the beta rooster Bc I have a larger white RIR rooster who leads the flock. They don’t fight each other, when I initially put it in the flock, my RIR wing danced near it like it was a hen and then proceeded to mate or try to mate it about 17 times. The silkie fought and squawked like the first few times but then kinda just took it the rest. Could that be the RIR’s way of saying it’s the alpha? Also haven’t seen the RIR try to mate it since the first day anymore. My two LARGE black Orpingtons will bully it away so it stays away from them, and my brown ISA will peck at it too however the RIR rooster and the leghorn hen seem to coexist with it fine now. Also when the RIR try’s to mate the leghorn the silkie will start pecking the RIR and interrupt the mating and the RIR just walks off. Anyone Able to identify the sex of this silkie and explain the weird behavior?

I’m leaning towards super beta silkie rooster.
so that's definitely a rooster, because of his stance and tail feathers. The reason he might not be crowing is that he is young or not dominant enough. Crowing is a sign of dominance in chickens, and when you have multiple roosters together (and you have a toxic leader who doesn't like anyone else crowing) its a privlege held only for the higher ranking ones.

the rooster who tried to mat him may have thought he was a hen but I doubt it because they are good at knowing the gender, I noticed roosters housed together will sometimes try and mate with other smaller/timid roosters due to stress or not enough enrichment/space which is what may have happened here.

also, I have seen the interrupting the mating thing done by both roosters and hens. I have two roosters housed together as well as a rooster flock. with my two roosters housed with hens if one rooster catches the other mating he will try and kick the rooster off, if it's a lady who catches it she will start to peck the hen for some unknown reason.

each chicken is unique and some tend to be bigger bullies or get aggravated/anoyed by different things so that's why the RIR stands him more then the others if that makes sense.

PS its a nickname I'm not a vet:)
 

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