Please help me sex my silkies!

[Susies Zoo]

Hello! I am a new mommy to 2 very cute 4 month old silkies! I have 11 other hens and 3 roosters of various breeds but these are my 1st silkies. Any guesses what sex they may be?

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Not seeing much of a comb so right now I'd say girls

 

[Cyan Night]

I think you have a pair. The boy being the one in the fifth picture. Just my guess though

 

[Susies Zoo]

I am hoping that they are a pair and I feel the one on the left is a girl and the right a boy. It's is hard to see their combs! Another question I have is the "girl" only has 4 toes and is a little pale. Her beak is almost white in comparison to the "boy". Does this mean she is not a purebred?

 

[Cyan Night]

If she's from a hatchery/feed store, then I'd say that that is pretty normal. But it is also common in the white variety. Hatchery birds aren't perfect, or always up to standard, but I love them anyways.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I think you have a pair. The boy being the one in the fifth picture. Just my guess though

x2

I see a streamer in the 5th pic.

I vote a pair!

 

[Susies Zoo]

Oh I love her for sure! I got them at a local auction and they were not very well taken care of poor things had fleas and were filthy! I gave them a bath and a blow dry-which they loved!!- they also refuse to go outside so I think they have been cooped up since they were hatched. I would like to try my hand at hatching a couple when they mature but I'm not sure if I should if they aren't pure. He defiantly seems pure with his blue lobes and 5 toes but I think he has a split wing. Do you know what happens if you breed a white with a black? Do you get a splash or just a dominant colour?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If she's from a hatchery/feed store, then I'd say that that is pretty normal. But it is also common in the white variety. Hatchery birds aren't perfect, or always up to standard, but I love them anyways.

x2

Silkies can end up with 4 toes and some off-standard color issues, which makes them pet quality and not show quality. But they are still silkies and are cute!

So a breeder would not use one with 4 toes, but you may end up buying one from a breeder as a pet, since it crops up sometimes.

 

[Susies Zoo]

I'm good with pet quality I won't be showing any lol! I just figured people might think a silkie with 4 toes is just another chicken but 5 toes makes it a silkie....besides the feathers of course! Thanks for letting me see the good in non purebred silkies!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I'm good with pet quality

I won't be showing any lol! I just figured people might think a silkie with 4 toes is just another chicken but 5 toes makes it a silkie....besides the feathers of course! Thanks for letting me see the good in non purebred silkies!

You see, in chickens, purebred really doesn't mean much, except with a very few breeds where the bloodlines mean a lot, such as Ayam Cemani and the like (and Fayoumis).

You can take any chickens in the US, breed them at will, and as long as you end up with what looks like a ______ (fill in the blank for breed), and they breed true for the following generations, not just one generation, then you have a _______(fill in the blank for breed).

So you can take one Buff Orpington, cross it with another breed, then breed back to Buff Orpingtons for several generations, and you have "improved" your line if you accomplished the breeding goals you set out to accomplish. As long as the final generations look like Buff Orpingtons, then you sell your chicks as Buff Orpingtons.

This is done all the time by chicken breeders to introduce new blood, which is desirable. However, they do try to find a chicken that looks the closest to the breed they are working on, such as comb type, color, etc.

Even better is to find new blood within the breed of course. But not always possible.

To get better egglaying, for example, Leghorn blood may be introduced to a breed.