silkie sexing

[FoxyRoxy]

Here’s some

if you have silkie chicks that need to be sexed place pics here. chicks need to be at least 4 weeks old. pics need to be from the sides of the head and full body, front veiw of the head, and any other pics you want to provide please. here are some tips i found online about sexing silkie chicks as well


Look at the feathers on the chick's head. Males tend to have feathers that stand upright and curve towards the back, while the female head feathers tend to form in a rounded feather puff.

Look at the comb when it develops within two to three weeks of the chick's birth. a male will have a larger comb than a female.

Males are significantly larger than females, and this can be obvious a few days after hatching. This isn't considered a certain method of sexing though because you may just have a large female or a small male. It's also a poor method if you are trying to compare chicks from two different genetic lines.

Listen for crowing. The chicks will start losing the fluffly baby feathers around four of five months. At that time a male silkie will start attempting to crow.

Look at the saddle feathers just before the tail and the hackle feathers on the neck. These feathers will be long and sharp on a male and gently rounded on a female.

Hi everyone Here’s some pics of my approximately 5 week old silkie. I’d like to know what kind of impression this fuzzy butt gives off - roo or pullet. I know it’s early but even some guesses would be helpful right now. I will describe its personality in next post and it’ll be cool to know if the impression from pics matches the impression of off its personality. Thanks in advance!

 

[FoxyRoxy]

I’d really appreciate any help/ideas/guesses on the gender. I found it on my backyard when it was just couple days old according to my research. We live in the area with farms not too far and since it had some scuffs I assumed maybe it was dropped by a hawk who grabbed it from someone’s yard. I wasn’t able to find it’s original home and was in no way prepared to have a baby bird so I had to learn and improvise a lot lol This is my first chicken ever (I have raised rescue pigeon once from 2 days old and they don’t eat by them selves so I figured it can’t be much harder with a chick) and it’s the only one I have so I have no experience with chickens or any other chick to compare it to. Luckily I had a heating pad, boiled some eggs and went and bough chick starter, electrolytes and other supplies the next day. Thanks to google and especially this site I was able to figure out it’s breed (5 feathered toes and black skin) and age - it was tiny yellow ball of fluff! It’s cuddly but skittish/a bit shy at the same time. It tries to run away when some one comes close but it is friendly and likes to be around people at the same time. Often after a circle or two it stops running, does a little squat and lets you pick it up but screams and flaps it’s wings until it settles. Maybe it just doesn’t like to be picked up but it does love to nap on a shoulder or in a lap. It thinks I’m the mom so it screams soon as it looses my site. Follows me around often. It likes to be around people in general but tries to avoid being picked up. Seems like it’s always on allert, possibly because of how it ended up on my yard. About a week ago I noticed it’s comb changed a bit - it widened some and is not as smooth as it used to be, but no big bumps that I can see and it hasn’t changed much since, still looks pretty flat to me. I know it’s very young and early to tell for sure but I’m not on here for sure answers. Sometimes it all of a sudden stands tall and makes this loud call if some bird flies over, sometimes it squats down instead. It likes to pick seeds and weeds off the ground and of course it squats when its busy doing it, but it perks up to check on sounds and straightens it’s neck while in upright tall pose. If I’m laying in the grass, it’ll come and cuddle up to me, but if I reach out to pick it up, it’ll try to run away. Again, this is my first chicken so I assume I may be looking for signs of gender in what is actually totally normal behavior for both. Please don’t judge a newb haha I’m in love with it already but our hoa won’t allow Roos so I wish I could know early enough before I get completely attached. If there’s anything you’d like to know that may help with guesses, please ask away.

 

[Faraday40]

@FoxyRoxy
Good job on rescuing and raising your little chick. Silkie chickens may look weird but they are very, very people friendly. Unfortunately silkies are just about the hardest type of bird to sex. Often it takes 10+ weeks and sometimes people can't tell until there's an egg or a crow.

Chicks pretty much look female - until they don't. LOL So far there's nothing that screams male in your chick. The wide comb area could be a male, but it's not obvious & looks pretty flat. It's just something to keep an eye on & post pics if it changes at all. Likewise a male trait is standing tall and upright. (very alert & on guard) However, a female will also stand tall & look around if nervous- like when a camera is flashing. Females tend to have a slightly rounded stance.

Sorry I can't be of more help. These things take time.

Here was my silkie female at 6 weeks. At the time I thought male because of the wider comb.

Around 14 weeks old, the silkie still had uniform color, a rounded head crest (no male streamers), and walked like a girl (no tall rooster strut)

 

[DanyB]

I’d really appreciate any help/ideas/guesses on the gender. I found it on my backyard when it was just couple days old according to my research. We live in the area with farms not too far and since it had some scuffs I assumed maybe it was dropped by a hawk who grabbed it from someone’s yard. I wasn’t able to find it’s original home and was in no way prepared to have a baby bird so I had to learn and improvise a lot lol This is my first chicken ever (I have raised rescue pigeon once from 2 days old and they don’t eat by them selves so I figured it can’t be much harder with a chick) and it’s the only one I have so I have no experience with chickens or any other chick to compare it to. Luckily I had a heating pad, boiled some eggs and went and bough chick starter, electrolytes and other supplies the next day. Thanks to google and especially this site I was able to figure out it’s breed (5 feathered toes and black skin) and age - it was tiny yellow ball of fluff! It’s cuddly but skittish/a bit shy at the same time. It tries to run away when some one comes close but it is friendly and likes to be around people at the same time. Often after a circle or two it stops running, does a little squat and lets you pick it up but screams and flaps it’s wings until it settles. Maybe it just doesn’t like to be picked up but it does love to nap on a shoulder or in a lap. It thinks I’m the mom so it screams soon as it looses my site. Follows me around often. It likes to be around people in general but tries to avoid being picked up. Seems like it’s always on allert, possibly because of how it ended up on my yard. About a week ago I noticed it’s comb changed a bit - it widened some and is not as smooth as it used to be, but no big bumps that I can see and it hasn’t changed much since, still looks pretty flat to me. I know it’s very young and early to tell for sure but I’m not on here for sure answers. Sometimes it all of a sudden stands tall and makes this loud call if some bird flies over, sometimes it squats down instead. It likes to pick seeds and weeds off the ground and of course it squats when its busy doing it, but it perks up to check on sounds and straightens it’s neck while in upright tall pose. If I’m laying in the grass, it’ll come and cuddle up to me, but if I reach out to pick it up, it’ll try to run away. Again, this is my first chicken so I assume I may be looking for signs of gender in what is actually totally normal behavior for both. Please don’t judge a newb haha I’m in love with it already but our hoa won’t allow Roos so I wish I could know early enough before I get completely attached. If there’s anything you’d like to know that may help with guesses, please ask away.

I may be wrong but it looks like a roo to me. See attached pic of my silkies. The gray one is a hen and the black one is a roo. Looking at their comb could help but I agree that silkies are very difficult to sex. For myself I didnt knew before one start crowing and the other start laying.

 

[Faraday40]

For myself I didnt knew before one start crowing and the other start laying.

Yep. That happens!

I thought my little EE was a tiny rooster. Very self-confident & friendly as a chick. "Tyrion" even had a male-ish color pattern, so we decided to keep him around until he crowed. Well, she laid a pretty blue eggs instead. Tyrion is now 7 years old and still laying. She's the top hen and puts any young cockerels in their place.

 

[DanyB]

Yep. That happens!

I thought my little EE was a tiny rooster. Very self-confident & friendly as a chick. "Tyrion" even had a male-ish color pattern, so we decided to keep him around until he crowed. Well, she laid a pretty blue eggs instead. Tyrion is now 7 years old and still laying. She's the top hen and puts any young cockerels in their place.

My childs had decide before we knew the chick was a roo to called him Princess. What a surprise when princess started crowing. Ahah!

 

[FoxyRoxy]

Thanks for the replies! I went through just about every thread i could find about sexing silkies so I could look at pics and compare to mine. They are a riddle lol I guess I won’t assume s(he) is staying until I know the gender. I might update and ask again later on if any changes. Thanks again!

 

[Michelle Guynn]

I’m saying pullet.

 

[FoxyRoxy]

@FoxyRoxy
Good job on rescuing and raising your little chick. Silkie chickens may look weird but they are very, very people friendly. Unfortunately silkies are just about the hardest type of bird to sex. Often it takes 10+ weeks and sometimes people can't tell until there's an egg or a crow.

Chicks pretty much look female - until they don't. LOL So far there's nothing that screams male in your chick. The wide comb area could be a male, but it's not obvious & looks pretty flat. It's just something to keep an eye on & post pics if it changes at all. Likewise a male trait is standing tall and upright. (very alert & on guard) However, a female will also stand tall & look around if nervous- like when a camera is flashing. Females tend to have a slightly rounded stance.

Sorry I can't be of more help. These things take time.

Here was my silkie female at 6 weeks. At the time I thought male because of the wider comb.
View attachment 2064128
Around 14 weeks old, the silkie still had uniform color, a rounded head crest (no male streamers), and walked like a girl (no tall rooster strut)
View attachment 2064134View attachment 2064132

What a beautiful girl you got! And her comb looks a bit more raised than mine’, which gives me hope haha

 

[FoxyRoxy]

I may be wrong but it looks like a roo to me. See attached pic of my silkies. The gray one is a hen and the black one is a roo. Looking at their comb could help but I agree that silkies are very difficult to sex. For myself I didnt knew before one start crowing and the other start laying.

I just love splashes, very pretty bird too! Your roo’s comb looks bigger than mine’ so it gives me hope too It’s comb didn’t change in over a week since I first noticed change, I’ll just hope it stays that way lol