Not sure if we have 2 hens or 1 hen and 1 rooster

[Hduenner09]

Silkies are terribly hard to sex accurately before 4 months and often not until 6 months...or longer!

The second photo with that much comb developed (as female Silkie's never really develop comb) looks suspicious.

Silkies can be pretty chill, so if you get a male, he might be very sweet. If crowing is a problem, you might consider a crow collar. I've used them successfully.

My 2 cents.
LofMc

Thank you! I may look into the crow collar- had no idea those even existed! They both really are bonded to each other and I would hate to have to separate them. This also may be dumb of me to ask but whenever the hen is mature enough to lay eggs, will every egg be fertilized? How will I know if its a baby chick or if its an unfertilized egg each time they lay one? (sorry only familiar with just having hens and now with the (possible) rooster, it is a little complicated to me! Beginner over here

 

[Lady of McCamley]

When a hen mates with a rooster, she keeps a packet of sperm in her egg tract which fertilizes every egg she develops for about 10 days. If she mates regularly, her eggs are fertile regularly.

The blastoderm is the little white ring on the surface in the egg yolk and holds the hen's DNA. When an egg is fertilized, that ring looks like a bullseye of 2 rings as the sperm DNA surrounds the hen's.

Magically it remains in stasis in that state until it is heated to about 102 degrees for 24 hours. Then and only then does an embryo begin to develop.

So remove eggs daily so they don't start developing. You'll have to be attentive as Silkies are notorious for wanting to brood, which means sit on an egg for 24 hours plus 20 days to hatch chicks.

Fertile eggs look and taste the same as non fertile except for a little tiny extra ring in the egg yolk.

If you find a fertile egg under a hen after several days, you will see blood vessels developing which can create a yuk factor but the egg is still safe to eat.

Bottom line...just regularly gather eggs once a day.

BTW You can find crow collars at My Pet Chicken as well as Amazon. They work really well after you've fiddled a couple of days to get it right enough but not too tight. You also need to regularly check to make sure all is well. I've used them successfully for many years.

LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Oh, I must warn you if you do have a rooster, and he is sweet so you keep him, and your Silkie hen goes into the inevitable brood, often frequently, until you cave and let her sit to be a momma, you will fall in love with broody chick hatching and may become addicted.

Just saying.
LofMc

And yes that is a Silkie in my Avatar who hatched most of my flock...that's the first olive egger from about 5 years ago...and I still love to broody hatch.

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

You said they're 2 months old? I don't see anything that jumps out at me as cockerel. While the comb on the second is a bit large, it's not so much the size as it is the shape. Can you get a picture of said comb straight on? But as has already been said, it can be really hard to sex Silkies, even when you know what you're doing. Things to look for (but again, they'll fool you, often):

-"streamers" ie feathers that extend beyond the crest and make it less round and symmetrical
-A comb that looks like an upside down U when you look at it straight on (as opposed to an upside down V, more common in females)
-thicker legs
-heavier...the farther you get past 9 weeks the more likely the males will outweigh the females
-A more upright, assertive posture (females tend to keep their backs horizontal)
-Prolonged popping/bumping chests/fighting with your other chickens, ie not quickly losing interest with the activity. Obviously if any involved chickens are still establishing pecking order, this won't be useful as they'll all be doing this to figure out who's boss.

 

[Hduenner09]

When a hen mates with a rooster, she keeps a packet of sperm in her egg tract which fertilizes every egg she develops for about 10 days. If she mates regularly, her eggs are fertile regularly.

The blastoderm is the little white ring on the surface in the egg yolk and holds the hen's DNA. When an egg is fertilized, that ring looks like a bullseye of 2 rings as the sperm DNA surrounds the hen's.

Magically it remains in stasis in that state until it is heated to about 102 degrees for 24 hours. Then and only then does an embryo begin to develop.

So remove eggs daily so they don't start developing. You'll have to be attentive as Silkies are notorious for wanting to brood, which means sit on an egg for 24 hours plus 20 days to hatch chicks.

Fertile eggs look and taste the same as non fertile except for a little tiny extra ring in the egg yolk.

If you find a fertile egg under a hen after several days, you will see blood vessels developing which can create a yuk factor but the egg is still safe to eat.

Bottom line...just regularly gather eggs once a day.

BTW You can find crow collars at My Pet Chicken as well as Amazon. They work really well after you've fiddled a couple of days to get it right enough but not too tight. You also need to regularly check to make sure all is well. I've used them successfully for many years.

LofMc

Wow thank you so much for this!!! All the info I needed!