Thank you so much! I'll keep ya posted! They're now 4 wks old and wow, how they've grown (and changed). Do you know if the cockrels tend to have a slightly lower-sounding chirp/peep? I've noticed that 2 of my larger chicks have much lower voices (haha) than my others.
We hatched some silkies & DD loved the one with the most fluff - which also happened to have the narrowest comb. They were only 1 week old, so I had no clue of any genders. The goal was to keep only ONE silkie. Later we got a cute splash silkie. (It was a back-up just in case DDs silkie was a male.) That one had a wider comb & it also stood more upright. Because there was a 2 month age gap I couldn't compare side by side, but I really thought the 2nd one was male. They're 20 & 28 weeks old now, and I still see no male traits. Both look very female & are spoiled. It looks like we now have 2 silkies staying in our flock.
Of course that's when they're in the coop. Often, the kids bring them inside the house for movie time, spa treatments, pedicures with nail polish, chalk hair coloring, & up-dos.
Back to sexing: There are a few behaviors that can sometimes help. Think of all this as "clues" because there really is no easy way to know for sure until an egg or crow. Males tend to be more outgoing, run up to greet you when the brooder door opens, 1st to try out a new treat, stand more upright & confident, and take on a leadership role. (Other chicks will run behind them when frightened.) All chicks may chest bump, but a frequent one could mean male. Likewise with roosting. The males like to jump up onto the watered/feeder to have a better vantage point. (Females do it too, but males more frequently.) Physically, male chicks can have a slightly rounder face & females are more angular. Male silkies have a wider comb & then get a bump. The female's comb stays pretty flat. Males may get a slightly darker color on their wing/shoulder area as the get older. They also get long hairlike crest feathers growing angled toward the back
Here were my silkies - both between 5-6 weeks. At that age, I thought the splash was a male.
Around 10 weeks I changed my opinion & realized that Zander was a female.
