Question about silkie gender

[LTygress]

Neither of them really have much of any comb. They're both just kinda flat right there.

Again, they are 3 months old on Sunday. So keep that in mind with these photos...

This is the larger of the two. The comb is very flat, but "clean". There are no feather shafts on it at all. What you see is just skin.



Profile of the larger one. Maybe this shows the "streamers" they speak of that stick out off the back of the males' heads?



Another shot of the larger one's comb. Again, flat and no feather shafts. Slightly bumpy, but still flat.








This is the smaller of the two. This one has a more narrow comb, and small tufts of feathers in the comb area.



Profile shot of the smaller one. I just noticed when posting these photos that the "poof" on its head is also confined more to the front of the head.



Again, you can see small tiny feathers here and there across the comb. But much like the larger one, this one's comb is also flat. Neither of them have really grown up off of their heads at all.

 

[LTygress]

I suppose I will go back to waiting.

 

[Tricoglossus]

They have both got pullet-like combs. Not sure why there is such a difference in body size.

 

[LTygress]

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

It turns out that the size difference was indeed an indicator of their gender. But it surprised me that they developed such a huge size difference at less than 3 months old!

Well now they are about four and a half months old. Neither has started to crow, but the differences between them have become significant enough that I know now, without a doubt.


The bigger one is indeed a roo. His face and cheeks are "cleaning up" now like a normal silkie roo, to make room for all of that red skin that will be showing. He hasn't really developed a bright comb yet, but I'm sure that will start anytime now.

The smaller one is indeed a hen. Not only is her face starting to get covered, but she's getting that semi-parted look in the feathers behind her comb that silkie hens tend to have. More importantly though, her face is almost completely hidden behind her feathers!

I don't have pics right now, but I will try to get some within the week and post them. But even though I'm a silkie newbie (never owned any prior to hatching out these eggs), I'm certain that I have a hen and a roo now. Those are REALLY nice odds considering I bought 14 hatching eggs, and only two have made it this far! (Others were stepped on by additional broody hens, or killed by local wildlife.)

I certainly got lucky!

 

[Tricoglossus]

I'm looking forward to seeing your photos. Since you originally posted this thread, I got 4 white silkie chicks. They are now about 13 weeks old. Funnily enough, the largest chick is at LEAST 2x the size of the smallest one. They all hatched on the same day. The largest chick is also a cockerel, and I'm hoping that at least 2 of the others are pullets, including the smallest one.

Here you can get an appreciation of the difference in size - the smallest and the largest chick standing next to each other:

 

[LTygress]

If you see my earlier photos in this thread, that's EXACTLY what they were like when they were just under 3 months old. So there's a VERY good chance yours have the same thing going on if the size is that much different!

 

[LTygress]

I just wanted to update this again. It has been a long time since I posted it, and there is no doubt at all that I ended up with a hen and a roo. The roo crows, and the hen JUST laid an egg in a box beside me. They came in after the ice storm left them caked with mud and... ice. Both had to get a bath, and now they are cleaned up and almost ready to go back out!

But here is a recent photo of the two of them.





And some from bath time...


(Ignore the black silkie hen. She was adopted a couple of weeks ago, and apparently REALLY liked the feel of the blow dryer on her butt - because she didn't need or get a bath today! She just kept jumping in front of it to warm her butt some more!

 

[Tara K]

So cute about the adopted black hen!! Your 2 whites look great too

 

[realsis]

What a beautiful pair

they will make beautiful babies!

 

[MrsHippo]

Aww I'm glad you got your answers in the end. They look beautiful in the most recent photo (of the two of them). Yey for the third too x