Sexing Silkies

[astylishgirl]

I look at my Silkies every day and I just don't have a CLUE who is a roo and who is a pullet. What do you look for??? I have even been doing searches and looking at other Silkies on here and I still can't tell the difference.

Any ideas?

 

[lurky]

You should post pictures of them. Alot of even just guessing comes from raising them and watching the way they change/grow in appearance and personality. But sometimes you just dont know til they crow or lay an egg. But pics would help people to try to give you an idea.

 

[Fuzzypea]

I have done some research... I also have a silkie bantam, and I know sort of how to tell them apart by their looks, but mine looks like it could be a roo or a hen.

I'm just not sure.

Well, I DID find out that the rooster's have fuzz on their heads that looks swept back, as apposed to the hens, that look puffier. Also, the roosters have shinier feathers, and they are bigger than the hens. The roosters will play fight, or "challenge" the other chickens.

Hope this helped. Good luck!

 

[Amy's Animals]

Yes, roosters have long thin feathers sticking out of the back of their head (and sometimes tail) called "streamers", roosters are larger then the hens, have a larger comb (usually better visible then a hen's), and the hackles are longer thinner and less puffy and more silky looking then the hens, also look for spurs. Hens have smaller, more compact bodies then the rooster, they usually look fluffier and poofier then the roos, the dont have streamers or spurs, and have smaller combs that a nearly obscured by the tuft of feathers on their head, and they don't have the long hackles but the shorter feathers that also cover the rest of their body. I can send you a pic of my silkie rooster and hen so you can see the obvious difference. Just let me know

 

[lurky]

Yeah all that is true, but not all silkies have such obvious signs. There is alot of genetic factors that change those things. I have a silkie line that has so little comb/wattles, that most hens have bigger comb/wattles than my rooster. Also the streamers can show up at 3 months old, or 6 months old. So before 6 months old, you can only hope for an obvious sign.
You can tell by posture, by the long legs........by the streamers, by the look of the tail, by the shape of the chest. But alot of signs are so subtle, that you have to get used to them by raising them. I had 3 roosters that got to 5 months old and you finally saw some streamers to know they were boys. Sometimes the signs are quite obvious, but if you want it to be a pullet bad enough, you convince yourself you do not see them LOL.

 

[astylishgirl]

I would LOVE pictures of the different sexes... because I just can't tell! Out of the 5, they are all different sizes though. So I am thinking that the big one is a Roo?