Silkie breeders, would like to pick your brains please.

[chickhamm]

ok, i got 11 silkies last ......august i believe. At that time it was very hard to sex the chicks, they ranged in age from 2 months to about 6 months, i had one rooster definitly at that time. Well, some are at least a yr old now and i have several laying , 2 i know for sure that are hens....... and 3 or 4 that i know are roosters. The rest are up in the air still kinda.

Im hopping to breed them and hopefully improve what i have going so far. One rooster i do not think i want to breed, he has a enormouse comb and alot of black in his feathers, more than the others....am i right in thinking not to breed him? .........here are some pictures

here is my second roo.......his comb is much smaller and compact....and he has less black in his feathers......

now...........this is pumkin.....my daughter picked her(HIM) out and well she has turned into a boy but i think ......my best looking roo....his toes could be a bit beter in seperation

Now these are the 2 i know for sure are hens, they squat when you come near them........LOL

she seems to have the cleanest coloring, just a bit of black in her tail

second one has a good bit more black in her feathers

these ones i am not sure of at this time any ideas on sex?

and this one

ohhhhhhh Jody....i have 2 chicks from the 6 eggs i got from you of the buff silkies.........this is cloud, my daughter picked her out as hers.......she is now hopping that it stays a SHE. so she can breed pumkin to cloud.....

ill get picutures of the other one, it has a lot of white in its feathers and some black.

hopefully over this summer ill get more eggs to add new bloodlines and work on this with my daughter. She is really excited to see what they will make together.


chickhamm
Theressa
Creatively Woven Baskets
GA

 

[BamaChicken]

The third Roo is the better looking quality IMHO. All the rest look like pullets. Some take longer to lay than others but if they are a year old they should be laying.

 

[Flufnstuffs~FluffySilkies]

I would find a new home for the top roo,
I always keep at least 2 roos in every color because if something unforseen happens to one you still have a back up.

 

[flip9109]

how can u tell by looking at them? I have 4 that are about 3 months old. none are crowing but I suspect 3 of them are roo's because of their size (almost as big as my millie hen).

 

[mario2girls]

some times they show a little more comb, sometimes they seem to have feathers on the crest that head straight back and are a bit longer,,,,
and sometimes , you swear it is a roo, then you go to sell it and it lays an egg, that happened to me,,,,lol

 

[jimnjay]

I agree with Julie, I think the third rooster would be my choice of roosters and if you have room do like Melanie said and keep a spare. I just lost my Buff Rooster and I am out of luck until I can find a replacement. My girls are upset over the change in the social order of the coop and have stopped laying.

I also agree that if the others are 1 year or close to it, then they would all be hens. A male rooster will definately develop a comb that you can identify by 6-8 months old.

 

[chrisf]

1st one looks like Choobaka!