Silkie gender how to figure hen or rooster

[mynewbabies]

I have white silkies 6 of them trying to figure which is a rooster they are 13 weeks. Fluffy and beautiful getting their affro' s. Two of them we think are roosters but no crowing . Hmmmm.
Does anyone know when they start to crow.?

 

[loveourbirds]

usually 4-5 months in my experience. maybe some attempts before the 4 month mark.

silkies are a hard breed to tell. males will normally stand a lot taller than females. with a more upright stance, kind of like a sumo wrestler or something. males combs are typically thicker from what I see in my birds, but not all of mine are show quality.

male silkies still have a form of hackle feather that the females don't have. some people call them streamers. look at post 7 down on this thread, those are some descent pictures of them coming off the back of the head. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/267202/silkies-and-streamers

just because they don't have streamers does not make them a hen, some males just don't show them.

in your picture I think I see a pullet and a cockerel, but im not sure.

 

[mynewbabies]

Thank you for that info, I think I will try to get a closer picture of them and post. Are yours flighty. Mine wont let you pick them up or get too close. Any ideas of what they like other than mealworms to get them to closer to me, they are so pretty I just want to hold them.

 

[loveourbirds]

silkies are normally calm, but they will be flighty when mixed with flighty birds. separate them and offer them treats and grass if they walk up to you. most of the time they will take to you, letting you hold and pet them. there will always be that one that wont however, just let (usually him) go about his business. for treats we use black oil sunflower seed (BOSS), meal worms, grass and what we call mouse's ear locally (a small weed with white flowers). night crawlers and other worms make great treats too, but with worms there is a very slight increase in the chance of gapeworm.