Silkie cockerel or overly large pullet?

ZooMummzy

Queen of the Zoo
11 Years
Mar 31, 2008
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Philomath, Oregon
Usually I'm pretty good at sexing my Silkies, but this one has me really confused.

He/She is 7 months old (can't confirm if laying due to size of flock);

not crowing at all (my last Silkie rooster crowed at 4 months - nonstop);

comb is large and black but I have hens with the same size;

waddles are not red over overly large;

no real Silkie rooster tail or wing feathering (that I can tell);

docile and not really displaying any "rooster tendencies" but he/she is just very large. I mean this Silkie is twice the size of my largest Silkie hen.



Any help? Sorry these are the best photos I could get of him/her....a little camera shy. If it is a male, as long as he doesn't crow he can stay but I'm really hoping it's just a Big Girl
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that is a boy.

It is hard to tell when you are looking at them too hard.
 
Ok....but can cockerels really be that late in developing? I mean this one is going on 8 months old in a couple weeks and there are no signs whatsoever. He is not interested in the ladies at all and doesn't make even a peep. I know there are late bloomers, but all the roosters I have ever had are at least interested in the ladies to some degree either by dancing around them or showing them food. This one just does his own thing and acts like a hen. I have 6 weeks old that are already doing the "rooster thing" lol. I'm not complaining mind you because if he wants to keep acting like a hen - great! I already have 16 roosters to rehome from my hatches...I'm just really confused.
 
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I have noticed that my younger boys will fly under the radar that way when there are older roosters around, usually if there is more than 2 or 3 around. I have one silkie mix that I thought for sure must be a pullet - hatched last summer and should be crowing or something by now right? Had very little in the way of "for sure" hackles or saddle feathering also. Take away your roosters ( out of sight and/or hearing ) and that guy will blossom practically overnight it seems. At least this has been my personal experience. Sometimes, the younger fellas just don't announce themselves if there are big fellas around.......
 
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See that's the thing...I don't have any other roosters. My little roosters are still inside in cages. They have never been with the flock at all, even my oldest 4 month old ones are still in the garage. They only come out on sunny days for a couple hours to get some exercise. This guy has been the only rooster. I'm fine that he is a he...I just don't understand it, lol. My last Silkie rooster crowed every 30 minutes. At that time, I did have another more dominant rooster too. I rehomed both of them last November, right about the time I adopted a group of 5 Silkies, this little guy being one of them.
 
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I thought Daphne was a pullet until he was about 9 or 10 months old. Then almost overnight he turned into Daffid
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And then I have a silkie cock that is about 3.5 years old. I am absolutely POSITIVE that he is a cock (I have his offspring); but the last two times I have showed him different judges have marked HEN on his coop card. He crows, he dances, he reacts when he believes I am messing with his ladies, ...) But he is a henny feathered blue partridge (meaning that his colouration/pattern is more like a female partridge than a male's). He is also not particularly aggressive with other males, although if they start it he won't back down. He however, doesn't start fights.

Anyways, you have a boy. 100% certain.
 

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