Silkie sexing help!

[heather9084]

I'm raising my first little flock of backyard chickens. Previously we've always had a large group of just farm chickens (plymouth mostly). I have a wyandotte, plymouth, and a Silkie.
We picked them up from a local farm store and they were already sexed to the typical 90% accuracy.

All three were hatched May 25th, 2017 but this morning I heard a concerning very quiet "scream". It didn't sound like a crow I've ever heard of (even from an adolescent rooster) but then again, I've never raised a silkie and I'm not sure if it's supposed to sound like a typical rooster doing his first crow.
But they also are let out around 7:00-7:15am every morning and I was late this morning so I'm hoping she was just being more of a brat and wanted out.

I never thought of Rosie (the non-bearded silkie) being a rooster before this morning because she's never acted like one. She's bottom of the totem pole amongst our other two hens and she doesn't ever look out on guard. In fact she spends most of her time chasing little flies and then looking back and realizing she's separated from the other two and running back to eat next to them. She isn't ever upright either.
She is the friendliest of the three but that didn't start until around a month ago, before then she was standoffish. And again, my other two hens boss her around.

Now, I know she isn't from show stock and this is where I'm a bit confused.
Her comb is very very prominent, and from what I've searched just prominent for a silkie in general. And it seems her feathers have came in slower. In fact the back of her neck is still coming in.

I uploaded pictures for opinions.

Again:
very very submissive
not protective of the other two, never on watch
doesn't stand tall (in picture she's standing up right because I'm holding a sunflower seed for the photo)
is very small

let out a "scream could be a beginning crow noise"
has large comb

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

That's probably a boy. Not the comb which is straight and incorrect for a Silkie, as they should have a walnut comb... but those are some big waddles.

Also... I don't know of a single hatchery that sexes their Silkies. Silkies are always straight run as far as I know. I'm sure the farm store could tell you which hatchery they order from and you could verify, though it's little late for that. Ya, their crows sound kinda funny when they first start trying.

Cute boy. I have a hard time telling black from blue in the Silkies. But he looks awfully blue in pics 1 & 2.

 

[heather9084]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

That's probably a boy. Not the comb which is straight and incorrect for a Silkie, as they should have a walnut comb... but those are some big waddles.

Also... I don't know of a single hatchery that sexes their Silkies. Silkies are always straight run as far as I know. I'm sure the farm store could tell you which hatchery they order from and you could verify, though it's little late for that. Ya, their crows sound kinda funny when they first start trying.

Cute boy. I have a hard time telling black from blue in the Silkies. But he looks awfully blue in pics 1 & 2.

Well that's annoying. I knew they were hard to sex but I even asked the people to verify if they were sexed as well and he said yes (it was also written on the cage).

I am really attached to my little silkie and if it turns out to be a boy I would like to keep it. It's still half the size of my other hens and still the most submissive bird by a long shot. I've never dealt with a rooster that was rude or showed signs this late in the game.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Silkies are quite special. The boys can be just as big of jerks as other roosters, but doesn't mean they will. All are individuals.

I could be mistaken about gender. Maybe the waddles just look big from being non bearded. But to me they look bigger than the barred rocks'. Since the comb is straight, I have no relevant comparison for size. If it was a walnut comb there would be a clear size for me to judge by. Some roosters crow late (and are almost as loud and can be just as annoying as large fowl), you are at around 20 weeks old right now if I counted correctly. If it is indeed a boy, I MIGHT expect him to be trying to mount the girls already. Since that isn't going on yet, with chasing and grabbing the feathers and the hens screaming... maybe that's a good sign that it actually is a girl.

I would definitely be curious to know which hatchery they came sexed from, so I could direct others there. Only one I know of is My Pet Chicken, but I don't know of ANY feed stores that order from MPC. Either way, would be cool if you were able to find out who they ordered from. Though the straight comb is a serious fault for breeding (which I do), for pet purposes probably no big deal.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I looked at MPC, and to have them sexed cost an extra $10 bringing the total to over $13 per chick.

 

[MageofMist]

Here is some pics of Peep-Peep, my non-bearded silkie cockerel when he looked roughly around your chickoos age.

He does look like a young roo to me.

 

[heather9084]

Silkies are quite special. The boys can be just as big of jerks as other roosters, but doesn't mean they will. All are individuals.

I could be mistaken about gender. Maybe the waddles just look big from being non bearded. But to me they look bigger than the barred rocks'. Since the comb is straight, I have no relevant comparison for size. If it was a walnut comb there would be a clear size for me to judge by. Some roosters crow late (and are almost as loud and can be just as annoying as large fowl), you are at around 20 weeks old right now if I counted correctly. If it is indeed a boy, I MIGHT expect him to be trying to mount the girls already. Since that isn't going on yet, with chasing and grabbing the feathers and the hens screaming... maybe that's a good sign that it actually is a girl.

I would definitely be curious to know which hatchery they came sexed from, so I could direct others there. Only one I know of is My Pet Chicken, but I don't know of ANY feed stores that order from MPC. Either way, would be cool if you were able to find out who they ordered from. Though the straight comb is a serious fault for breeding (which I do), for pet purposes probably no big deal.

I think that's why I'm so confused. "She" shows zero signs of wanting to mount the others. In fact, she gets bossed around by the wyanodtte. She has never once been on guard and when something makes them nervous (we have a lot of young squirrels and occasionally they fall from branches or from trying to get the bird feeder) she runs and hides and could care less about the other two.
This morning there was zero noise or even attempt to want to make that scream but again, I was on time letting them out. And yes shes around 20 weeks which seems like there should have been some sign of being a roo.

I agree she looks more like one but doesn't have the whisps of longer hair on her head of a rooster (despite the incorrect comb and long waddles).

I don't know but as long as she doesn't bug the neighbors I think it'll be fine.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Protectiveness doesn't really start that young in any of my boys. I've had a silkie start crowing and trying to mount as early as 8 weeks and a White Crested Black Polish bantam start as late as 30 weeks and not trying to mount before then either. Those are my 2 extremes. None are protective before 6 months.

I find longer hair wisps to be mostly irrelevant. And despite it being the incorrect comb, does have very nice dark color! So many of my boys especially are way redder than that. And they have other behaviors that give them away as well before then, USUALLY! So I would probably be thinking with behavior that it is a girl with the possibility of being a late blooming cockerel.

Come to think of it... all my boys have beautiful sheen in their tail already and are either about the same age or a little younger. I will have to double check the calendar and the blue boy (since I think your boy is blue). And you can look at the tail feathers of yours as well, the smooth ones. Seems like maybe even the wing area his nice beetle type sheen as well.

I personally would move the bird feed to another location where the chickens aren't. Inviting extra birds and rodents to your yard is like inviting extra parasites and disease to your flock. They carry lice, mites, fleas, worms, possibly rabies and other stuff as well as Mareks. I understand they are there anyways and a joy to watch! But maybe away from the chickens if you can. Those were things I didn't know or care about before getting chickens. I live in the Pacific Northwest and love being in the middle of nature! But it brings some challenges.

Sorry so long.. one other thing about crowing. All are individuals and crow when they want to. No joke mine start at 3:30 am sometimes! They crow for many reasons... to attract the ladies, to compete with other boys in the hood, to warn of predators, to celebrate mating, because a car drove by, and so on. Some will crow non stop while others only a few times a day. It's most calm shortly after sun down. But sunrise has zero to do with when they start crowing.

In addition, though it isn't common.. hens can crow and grow spurs, boys do the egg song pretty often and it's hilarious!

Birds are definitely creatures of habit and might raise a stink if you are late to the party. But that would make me be late on purpose next time to see if I can evoke the sound again!

My Silkie HENS are some of the loudest birds I have. I hope you will report an update!

 

[heather9084]

Protectiveness doesn't really start that young in any of my boys. I've had a silkie start crowing and trying to mount as early as 8 weeks and a White Crested Black Polish bantam start as late as 30 weeks and not trying to mount before then either. Those are my 2 extremes. None are protective before 6 months.

I find longer hair wisps to be mostly irrelevant. And despite it being the incorrect comb, does have very nice dark color! So many of my boys especially are way redder than that. And they have other behaviors that give them away as well before then, USUALLY! So I would probably be thinking with behavior that it is a girl with the possibility of being a late blooming cockerel.

Come to think of it... all my boys have beautiful sheen in their tail already and are either about the same age or a little younger. I will have to double check the calendar and the blue boy (since I think your boy is blue). And you can look at the tail feathers of yours as well, the smooth ones. Seems like maybe even the wing area his nice beetle type sheen as well.

I personally would move the bird feed to another location where the chickens aren't. Inviting extra birds and rodents to your yard is like inviting extra parasites and disease to your flock. They carry lice, mites, fleas, worms, possibly rabies and other stuff as well as Mareks. I understand they are there anyways and a joy to watch! But maybe away from the chickens if you can. Those were things I didn't know or care about before getting chickens. I live in the Pacific Northwest and love being in the middle of nature! But it brings some challenges.

Sorry so long.. one other thing about crowing. All are individuals and crow when they want to. No joke mine start at 3:30 am sometimes! They crow for many reasons... to attract the ladies, to compete with other boys in the hood, to warn of predators, to celebrate mating, because a car drove by, and so on. Some will crow non stop while others only a few times a day. It's most calm shortly after sun down. But sunrise has zero to do with when they start crowing.

In addition, though it isn't common.. hens can crow and grow spurs, boys do the egg song pretty often and it's hilarious!

Birds are definitely creatures of habit and might raise a stink if you are late to the party. But that would make me be late on purpose next time to see if I can evoke the sound again!

My Silkie HENS are some of the loudest birds I have. I hope you will report an update!

Thanks for all the info! It's all very helpful!
I will keep an eye on my silkie to see how it goes.