Partridge Silkie Roo or Hen?

[MissyC2012]

Hello friends. We have 2 Partridge Silkie birds who are now almost 9 months old. Muffin is the grey-ish bird and Puddin is the larger brown-ish bird. Puddin (the darker one in the last 2 photos) lays eggs regularly. However, Muffin (the lighter one in the first 4 photos) does not lay eggs, does not crow, and loves to peck others. How old are Silkies when you can actually tell the difference for certain?

I posted about them when they were 4 ½ months old and we were all having trouble identifying roo or hen at that time. I am hoping for better luck with Muffin now that they are almost twice as old.

 

[JedJackson]

Pullet I believe based on color pattern.

 

[MissyC2012]

Pullet I believe based on color pattern.

Thanks. I wondered about that. If so, she is the laziest pet hen we have. She has yet to lay a single egg. If not, he is the quietest and friendliest rooster we have ever had out of a Silkie. Our Silkies are usually either black or white, so I wondered if the Partridge Silkies were just different personalities.

 

[JedJackson]

I'm not sure if the partridges are any different personality wise than the others, but I'd imagine it's more about the individual birds than the variety with Silkies.

Now, as to color. The partridge variety in normal feathered birds makes them easy to sex because the color patterns are very different in males and females-- the females are all golden brown with black penciling on the feathers in a regular pattern. The males will have solid black breast feathers and bright, deep red in the hackle and saddle. With Silkies the difference should be there but more subtle. So my reasoning is that since your bird does not have solid black breast feathers then it must be a female.

Unfortunately, sellers of Silkies will often sell birds of mixed colors as partridge and that can confuse the issue. But I'm still going with female for your pullet.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Some of my Silkies I can tell gender before 8 weeks old.

I think Puddin is a pullet. How often are you getting Silkie eggs? Are you sure she isn't laying and you just think it's only your 1 girl? The other option could be a hidden nest. Boy would I be disappointed to have a pullet not yet laying at 9 months. Especially my Silkies who seem to go broody every 3rd egg!

Chances are a cockerel would be trying to mate your other pullet big time by now... though I have seen plenty of late developers.

Beautiful duo!

Unfortunately, sellers of Silkies will often sell birds of mixed colors as partridge and that can confuse the issue. But I'm still going with female for your pullet.

Agreed.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

It looks like a pullet!

 

[MissyC2012]

Puddin (the bigger one with darker feathers in the picture of both of them) is the broodiest hen I have ever seen. She lays eggs about 3-4 times per week and is very quick to let me know when she is done with laying them, since she and Muffin (and now Ebony) share my office/sunroom with me most days. However, she has raised 3 batches of Australorp babies because my Australorp hen refuses to sit on anything.
Muffin (the one in the first 3 pictures and the silver-ish one in the picture of both of them) has never laid an egg or sat on the nest. He/she generally pecks small babies until they get bigger (like 2-3 weeks old), then he/she sleeps on the floor with them until they are big enough to get on the pole. He/she also pecks Puddin quite a lot and has even climbed on her back a time or two, but not the usual "mounting" that my Australorp roosters do or even my white Silkie rooster used to.
Muffin is also VERY attached to our beautiful mystery bird called Ebony (below). The only solid black bird I have ever had born and she came from an Australorp rooster and my VERY old Speckled Sussex hen. She is the only egg hatched from my Sussex in over a year and that hen hates ALL roosters. It was a true shock to see her cuddled up to my Australorp roo.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I see Muffin is the one in question and I was talking about puddin.

I still think Muffin is female as well.

And that's a beautiful cross baby!

 

[MissyC2012]

We love them both. They are both super cuddly babies. They go outside during the day (weather permitting) and sleep inside at night because the other chickens in the outside flock (mostly Australorps and one very old Speckled Sussex hen) are all bullies who pull their feathers and peck them whenever we try to incorporate them into the flock.
I will continue to watch Muffin and see if she lays any eggs. Puddin was on the nest again this morning leaving me a present before they went outside. I knew she was done when she squawked loudly for me to come remove it so they could go outside and play. LOL
And thank you for the compliment. Ebony is a sweet and beautiful addition to our flock, but she doesn't seem to want to leave Muffin's side. It's adorable.