Is this normal? Chick Sizing

[TheCitychix]

Hi!

I’m new to raising chicks and I’m sooo curious if this is normal lol.

I bought 10 chicks from a breeder, they’re bearded silkies. We lost 1 but 9 are going strong and doing well but I noticed I have 2 that exponentially smaller than the others and 2-4 that so much bigger. The others are the size of the dark one. Is this normal? They were all the same size when I got them and were told they were just a few days old.

Does this sizing help with knowing if it’s a roo?

They hatched the last week of January.

 

[Noraaaaa]

Hi!

I’m new to raising chicks and I’m sooo curious if this is normal lol.

I bought 10 chicks from a breeder, they’re bearded silkies. We lost 1 but 9 are going strong and doing well but I noticed I have 2 that exponentially smaller than the others and 2-4 that so much bigger. The others are the size of the dark one. Is this normal? They were all the same size when I got them and were told they were just a few days old.

Does this sizing help with knowing if it’s a roo?

They hatched the last week of January.

View attachment 4055176

From my experience some silkies just grow bigger and/or at different rates. Sometimes the larger ones are a male and sometimes they are not. Usually you can not be sure until they either grow or lay an egg!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Can you get differences in sizes from chickens of the same breed from the same flock? Definitely. That's why I order several cockerels when I'm bringing in a cockerel to become my new breeding rooster. I want to choose the best.

Can a difference in size help you sex them? Sometimes but don't count on it. There are too many other things that could affect size to rely on it. Chicks that hatch from smaller eggs will be smaller than chicks that hatched from larger eggs, for example.

That difference in size in three week old chicks looks extreme. To me it looks like you may have some full sized Silkies, some bantam, and some that are a cross of bantam and full sized parents. Can you talk to the breeder and ask about that?