sexing Silkies

[marmaset]

I know you can't sex silkies till they crow but can the comb colour be a give away. I have a white hen crossed with a silkie (her mum was an Isa Brown her dad Silkie).
I keep her because she lays larger eggs and more often. She has mothered several Silkie looking chicks as have her babies. They are just a tad larger than true Silkies.
Instantly the chicks from her blood line look like roos because or the size but I have found that the comb is the main thing I go on. If its pink I figure its a roo and if its yellow its a hen. However I had what I thought was a roo and was going to dispatch it at six months because of its red comb and jowls, when it laid an egg.
My question is do true Silkies have a colour to their comb eg pink combs, Roos and Yellowish combs hens at 3 months. I have 12 babies and I think 7 are hens going by the comb colour . Has anyone come across this comb colour for sexing. As I said I was wrong once but put it down to the crossed blood line in the grandmother.

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I know you can't sex silkies till they crow but can the comb colour be a give away. I have a white hen crossed with a silkie (her mum was an Isa Brown her dad Silkie).
I keep her because she lays larger eggs and more often. She has mothered several Silkie looking chicks as have her babies. They are just a tad larger than true Silkies.
Instantly the chicks from her blood line look like roos because or the size but I have found that the comb is the main thing I go on. If its pink I figure its a roo and if its yellow its a hen. However I had what I thought was a roo and was going to dispatch it at six months because of its red comb and jowls, when it laid an egg.
My question is do true Silkies have a colour to their comb eg pink combs, Roos and Yellowish combs hens at 3 months. I have 12 babies and I think 7 are hens going by the comb colour . Has anyone come across this comb colour for sexing. As I said I was wrong once but put it down to the crossed blood line in the grandmother.

Silkie rooster or hen can have non standard colour combs if not pure, I have a few hens with red but I don't use them for breeding. I don't think you can sex Silkies on comb colour since they should all be the same dark mulberry colour if pure. I attached a couple pics of mine so you can see colour.
@LadiesAndJane @LynnaePB might know about cross breeding genetics ? Or someone else on here ..

Pic of my little Silkie cockerel .. wet crest from scratching in the wet grass, but see his comb colour..

Older cockerel..



Pullet..

And pullet with crest tied for better view..

 

[marmaset]

Thanks for that. My theory just flew out the window. As I'm not showing them I'm not concerned if they are not pure. As more than half of my flock have the purple combs I guess I can at least tell which ones are purebred. I did get a beautiful throw back from my white cross. She is a going to be my favorite. I don't know what breed she is and although I have hatched from the half breed several times and got Silkie looking hens, this is a first. Sort of the markings of a Wyanotte, she has gold lace markings as well.
I'll have to wait till they crow to really know. Thanks again.

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

Thanks for that. My theory just flew out the window. As I'm not showing them I'm not concerned if they are not pure. As more than half of my flock have the purple combs I guess I can at least tell which ones are purebred. I did get a beautiful throw back from my white cross. She is a going to be my favorite. I don't know what breed she is and although I have hatched from the half breed several times and got Silkie looking hens, this is a first. Sort of the markings of a Wyanotte, she has gold lace markings as well.
I'll have to wait till they crow to really know. Thanks again.

Post some side on, front pics of your birds in question and I'm sure some others on here can give you a good guess as to gender usually by 4 months old you know what it is. Sometimes longer though.

 

[LynnaePB]

I don't have much insight with the lighter skinned birds and telling sex as most of my silkies have dark skin. Even without the skin color being an indicator I can usually tell sex of the silkies I have by 15 weeks or so. Some lines develop slower or you can have an individual that just matures more slowly than the rest but I haven't found that to be too common.

Like @ForTheLoveOfSilkies said I'm sure there are others on here who can give some decent guesses on gender if you post pictures.

 

[marmaset]

Thanks all for your insight. Here are two of my 8 week olds. Hoping they are hens as they have a pretty face. also a ring in from the far gene pool. Any idea what breed she would come under, she even has a few gold feathers in her pompom. Dad was a Silkie, Mum was a white Silkie/ Isa brown.. I have hatched lots from the mum because she lays more often than silkies and her eggs are bigger. Also I normally get Silkie looking hens.

 

[Texasclucker]

Thanks all for your insight. Here are two of my 8 week olds. Hoping they are hens as they have a pretty face. also a ring in from the far gene pool. Any idea what breed she would come under, she even has a few gold feathers in her pompom. Dad was a Silkie, Mum was a white Silkie/ Isa brown.. I have hatched lots from the mum because she lays more often than silkies and her eggs are bigger. Also I normally get Silkie looking hens.

Number 1 is I’m pretty sure a hen and I don’t see any hackle feathers on number 2but the neck feathers confuse me maybe a roo on 2 but Im not entirely sure

 

[Texasclucker]

I got confused also if the two first pictures are of different birds then pretty sure those are both pullets

 

[Vitore]

Hi hope you don’t mind me jumping on your post and asking for a little help too sexing my 10 week old silkie?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Hi hope you don’t mind me jumping on your post and asking for a little help too sexing my 10 week old silkie?

This bird looks like a pullet, but I would like to see a close up of the comb. Can you take a photo with the crest pushed back?