Silkie Roo?

[Leeloo7]

So this is my first go with silkies and I have two “hens” who are now 11 weeks. How the heck can we tell if they are Roos? Do we just wait until they crow? I pride myself on being able to detect gender pretty early on with my standard chickens but these silkies are impossible to predict! We have two silkies in our new flock and the satin-feathering silkie is a little sus. They are pretty dominant and love picking fights with the other chicks in their flock, including the massive Cochin. Any clues on if we could be dealing with a roo?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Those combs are fairly large already. I'd guess cockerel on both.

 

[ClickityChick123]

I'm not an expert on silkies (I just got my first one this spring) so I'm probably not the most reliable source, but we do have a lavender orphington cockerel that got his comb before everyone else, was twice the other chicks (same age) size, and just started "crowing" (it sounds more like something dying) at, like, seventeen weeks? Hopefully this information is helpful! You've got two beautiful cochins, whatever the gender!

 

[Yardmom]

For Silkies the combs are large and would indicate cockeral. Sometimes Satins can end up with more comb, but I'm leaning male on both.

 

[Leeloo7]

Thanks, all! Realizing I didn’t post pics of our second silkie so I just edited the post but also wanted to add their photos here. Is this one a roo too? Much calmer than the satin-feathered silkie so I wasn’t suspecting her as much…

 

[fivetoed]

Both look like roos to me--the satin-feathered one seems to have a taller stance (chest is prouder), as well as big wattles and comb for its age. The second one I can tell has streamers (long feathers from the head that extend towards the tail), which is indicative of a male silkie. For reference, this is my 12 week old silkie pullet; her head is like a neat pompom, no streamers!