Silkie sexing question

[Roxieroo]

At what age can you tell if silkie chicks are male or female?

I have three. They are all around 5 weeks old, I think. I got them from a woman who said they were all hatched within a couple of days of each other, but honestly, I'm not sure if she really knew, or if these are even silkies (which is fine if they aren't, because I like them). I think the chick in the second picture may be quite a bit younger than the other two.

Anyway, out of 19 chickens, I know 16 are hens, and I'm impatient to figure out if these are pullets or cockerels.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

At what age can you tell if silkie chicks are male or female?

I have three. They are all around 5 weeks old, I think. I got them from a woman who said they were all hatched within a couple of days of each other, but honestly, I'm not sure if she really knew, or if these are even silkies (which is fine if they aren't, because I like them). I think the chick in the second picture may be quite a bit younger than the other two.

Anyway, out of 19 chickens, I know 16 are hens, and I'm impatient to figure out if these are pullets or cockerels.

Some are easier than others, some silkies u can tell really young other you have to wait. U can do a feather test to now their gender. The white one is a silkie the other two are silkie mixes.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

At what age can you tell if silkie chicks are male or female?

I have three. They are all around 5 weeks old, I think. I got them from a woman who said they were all hatched within a couple of days of each other, but honestly, I'm not sure if she really knew, or if these are even silkies (which is fine if they aren't, because I like them). I think the chick in the second picture may be quite a bit younger than the other two.

Anyway, out of 19 chickens, I know 16 are hens, and I'm impatient to figure out if these are pullets or cockerels.

Can you post photos of them free standing from the side? Hard for me to tell if they are silkies or silkie crosses in your photos. This will not answer your question though, as most silkies need to be around 4 months of age before you can tell gender. Agree, you can send feathers in to a company that will DNA test for gender if you must know before then. Sometimes a cockerel will be evident before 4 months of age, but this is not common. Females can look like males and males can look like females when they are young, so even things like comb width and the bird's stance are unreliable.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Oh, and welcome to BYC!