Silkie Sexing Project! (will get updated)

[elisabeth_]

Hello Everyone!

Wow, it’s been a minute since I’ve posted to this thread lol.
This is my new account by the way

I stumbled on this thread and decided— for anyone in the future using this to maybe help sex their little silkies by comparison— it was time for a good ol fashioned update.

Here are my little silkie babies and how they turned out.

Elliot
My little rooster! ♥
He’s still sweet for the most part... he only chases people who he knows are very afraid of him (my little brother and, unfortunately, the UPS man). Always puts the flock first and by far my favorite rooster of all time.


Trudy
Definitely not a rooster.. as a a matter of fact, she is currently sitting on a Cochin egg that will hopefully hatch next week! And yes, she sill runs around the yard like a tiny dinosaur.


Skippy
My big fat healthy girl . Her beak has never stopped her from being the first to the food. She sharpens it on the rough stones I put around their coop, and I have a deep feeder and waterer for her and the others, as @bantamsrmyfav kindly suggested. She is still the sweetest and will hopefully live many more years.


Lucy
The best momma hen in the world . Lucy has hatched 2 batches of beautiful little silkies so far (last year and this year) and hopefully more to come in the future.


Unfortunately, my little Marian wandered into the ducks’ pond last year and drowned . She was a good little pullet and I miss her. I have since blocked the silkies from going into the backyard and always do a head count before closing the coop door at night. Some lessons we have to learn the hard way.


Thanks to everyone that commented and offered advice to me in this thread in the past, it means a lot.
I hope you are all doing well during the health crisis going on.
Happy chicken-keeping!

 

[Oncoming Storm]

Good morning!

Where did your Silkies come from?

The straight comb (or pink skin) doesn't mean not pure Silkie. What it means is a Silkie with poor quality breeding ( just a statement, not a judgement to your lovely birds) or simply a fault that wasn't caught by the breeder or they don't make selections for quality period. They could either have a straight comb they haven't noticed in their stock or it could be a hidden fault being thrown they haven't done test mating to eliminate from their stock. I had one Silkie gal I didn't realize was straight combed until she was about 6 months old and I was specifically checking for faults. But at standard distance she looked completely quality. If they came from hatchery... it's par for the course and getting all birds with 5 toes and nice crest is a bonus.

Having more than one rooster is not out of the question if you have enough ladies and space. But honestly... Silkie boys were the biggest jerks out of ALL the breeds I raised.. (little man syndrome) and a couple of yours are sounding like they are perfect for the soup pot if they don't get put in check sooner than later. Their small size doesn't protect them here... especially because attitude breeds forward.

Did you do the wing feather sexing on these when they were still young? Seems like Silkies was one breed it was reported to work for. Or what method did you use?

Looks like most of them may be non bearded? The one you refer to as grey is technically blue in color.

Sounds like you're having an awesome adventure!

My silkie roo is one of the best in my flock. Maybe it’s because I have way more Roos than I should and all but one are bigger than him. He honestly acts like a hen more than a roo. He crows very rarely and never goes after the girls but he will defend them if they’re getting chased. My new silkies which I’m pretty sure are all Roos :’( greet me by running up to me and following me around like puppies. Maybe they’re chill because they’re not the littlest guys out there unlike my sebright who is a jerk.

 

[elisabeth_]

My silkie roo is one of the best in my flock. Maybe it’s because I have way more Roos than I should and all but one are bigger than him. He honestly acts like a hen more than a roo. He crows very rarely and never goes after the girls but he will defend them if they’re getting chased. My new silkies which I’m pretty sure are all Roos :’( greet me by running up to me and following me around like puppies. Maybe they’re chill because they’re not the littlest guys out there unlike my sebright who is a jerk.

Honestly, after years of keeping chickens I’ve found that my smallest roosters have been the meanest (polish bantam, d’uccle, old English game, etc.)
My sweetest rooster ever was a Rhode Island Red/ Cochin mix. Really big guy.
Go figure lol

 

[Oncoming Storm]

Honestly, after years of keeping chickens I’ve found that my smallest roosters have been the meanest (polish bantam, d’uccle, old English game, etc.)
My sweetest rooster ever was a Rhode Island Red/ Cochin mix. Really big guy.
Go figure lol

I dunno...I’ve had some big jerk Roos like my dominecker, barred rock, Broiler and my Rhode Island/silkie mix cross. It’s like yeah the big ones are scary because they chase you but the small ones sneak attack you and scare the crap out of you lol.

 

[bantamsrmyfav]

They're adorable! Hope the cochin egg hatches

Skippy is so cute lol I am glad she is doing well.

Don't be too discouraged by roosters. I saw this youtube video on a rooster flock. They seem to get along since they dont have hens to fight for.