Silkie cockerels or pullets?

[ngarrett]

Hens can be black with leakage, however, leakage in cockerels is a lot more common, and cockerels generally have more leakage than their pullet counterparts and get the leakage in sooner. Your silkie appears to be a black x partridge. Color crosses are common in silkies.
Also, your splash is actually a blue.

I’ve been scratching my head wondering why my breeder was telling me it was a splash Thanks for clarifying. I’m knew to this and have learned so much from everyone here. So maybe, there is hope my black can still be a pullet? Wishful thinking?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I’ve been scratching my head wondering why my breeder was telling me it was a splash Thanks for clarifying. I’m knew to this and have learned so much from everyone here. So maybe, there is hope my black can still be a pullet? Wishful thinking?

I’m not sure, I’m not good at sexing silkies. However, leakage in the saddle and shoulder feathers on an otherwise solid colored chicken is a pretty good sign of a cockerel.

 

[TheDuckGuy]

Hens can be black with leakage, however, leakage in cockerels is a lot more common, and cockerels generally have more leakage than their pullet counterparts and get the leakage in sooner. Your silkie appears to be a black x partridge. Color crosses are common in silkies.
Also, your splash is actually a blue.

Only male silkies get gold leakage

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Only male silkies get gold leakage

If non-silkied hens like black sex links can have gold leakage, silkied hens can have it too
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/black-and-gold-silkies.460062/post-5819851.

 

[TheDuckGuy]

If non-silkied hens like black sex links can have gold leakage, silkied hens can have it too
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/black-and-gold-silkies.460062/post-5819851.

Interesting

 

[Vwheatley]

@LadiesAndJane, you mentioned black with gold leakage is a cockerel. I’ve been looking online to learn more about it but haven’t seen much out there on this topic. Do only males have gold leakage?

I have a friend with a black hen with gold leakage, similar to yours, it is definitely a hen as has raised a clutch of chicks x