silkie sexing

[undine]

Here is my 5 week old silkie! These pictures are really bad since theyre not profile shots and what not. Although here's a gist of my silkie Evee. Ill post more pictures tmrow morning since she's asleep right now





Updated with more picturesss

 

[jajeanpierre]

I bought a group of Silkies chicks from a big hatchery. They are now 6 months old. I thought I had separated the cockerels from the pullets, but now I'm not so sure. My "pullets" look nothing like the cockerels that were so obviously cockerels, who at four or five months had big spiky top knots with long streamers, long spiky hackle feathers and big combs and some with waddles. All but one of those cockerels has been sent to freezer camp.

My group of "pullets" were smaller, had much rounder top knots and short hackle feathers. However, at least a couple of them are starting to make me think they might be cockerels, especially after today when I was checking their pelvis conformation to see which were laying and one seemed to ejaculate in my hand.

I've noticed some of them will crouch down and raise their wings, stamp and quiver if anything approaches them from above. I assumed this is sexual behavior of pullets. Would a cockerel do that?

I'm really, really new to chickens. These are my oldest chickens. Here are some really bad-quality pictures. Thoughts would be really appreciated.


As soon as I looked at this picture, I thought cockerel. How can I be sure? No one in the pullet pen crows that I know of. There are some crowing free-range Ameraucanas beside them, so I might not notice.



Can a pullet have such long tail feathers a the bird above?



Here are the two birds together. Again, sorry for the poor quality pictures. Both seem to be developing slightly longer hackle feathers at the shoulders, but the cockerels I slaughtered were so obviously cockerels with long spiky top knots and hackles, I'm not sure. The pullet that is laying also has slightly longer shoulder hackles.



Here's another I thought was a pullet, but it is starting to get a slightly spiky top knot. They are just growing some new feathers, so maybe it is just an optical illusion.


Here's another.

I would appreciate your thoughts. I'm not enjoying culling the cockerels, but they are not going to waste and are very, very tasty. Thanks for any help.

 

[ozu]

Yep, that's a roo, I am so sorry undine! I had the same issue with my two roos. Super sweet so I thought they were girls. But I don't live in the city thankfully.
But they crow... ALL THE TIME though.

 

[undine]

Yep, that's a roo, I am so sorry undine! I had the same issue with my two roos. Super sweet so I thought they were girls. But I don't live in the city thankfully.
But they crow... ALL THE TIME though.

How can you guys tell that "she's" a rooster? =0 Is it because of the spiky feathers on its head or the comb?

 

[ozu]

How can you guys tell that "she's" a rooster? =0 Is it because of the spiky feathers on its head or the comb?

Huge comb and tall stance. One of my roos looked like that at that age.

 

[undine]

Huge comb and tall stance. One of my roos looked like that at that age.

Oooommmmgggg /wrist LOL, just kidddding =p. Although i did have a hunch that "she" was going to be a he =( was pretty much in denial before posting the pics

 

[ozu]

I bought a group of Silkies chicks from a big hatchery. They are now 6 months old. I thought I had separated the cockerels from the pullets, but now I'm not so sure. My "pullets" look nothing like the cockerels that were so obviously cockerels, who at four or five months had big spiky top knots with long streamers, long spiky hackle feathers and big combs and some with waddles. All but one of those cockerels has been sent to freezer camp.

My group of "pullets" were smaller, had much rounder top knots and short hackle feathers. However, at least a couple of them are starting to make me think they might be cockerels, especially after today when I was checking their pelvis conformation to see which were laying and one seemed to ejaculate in my hand.

I've noticed some of them will crouch down and raise their wings, stamp and quiver if anything approaches them from above. I assumed this is sexual behavior of pullets. Would a cockerel do that?

I'm really, really new to chickens. These are my oldest chickens. Here are some really bad-quality pictures. Thoughts would be really appreciated.


As soon as I looked at this picture, I thought cockerel. How can I be sure? No one in the pullet pen crows that I know of. There are some crowing free-range Ameraucanas beside them, so I might not notice.



Can a pullet have such long tail feathers a the bird above?



Here are the two birds together. Again, sorry for the poor quality pictures. Both seem to be developing slightly longer hackle feathers at the shoulders, but the cockerels I slaughtered were so obviously cockerels with long spiky top knots and hackles, I'm not sure. The pullet that is laying also has slightly longer shoulder hackles.



Here's another I thought was a pullet, but it is starting to get a slightly spiky top knot. They are just growing some new feathers, so maybe it is just an optical illusion.


Here's another.

I would appreciate your thoughts. I'm not enjoying culling the cockerels, but they are not going to waste and are very, very tasty. Thanks for any help.

The buff looks like a pullet to me. The top has a pretty round crest.. hows the comb look?

The one with the long tail feathers are throwing me off... are they all the same length?
I have a younger pullet with long tail feathers too- she was a hatchery chick so I figure that explains it (very left).

It seems the hatchery chicks are a lot harder to sex.
The squatting behavior is a pullet behavior. They want a roo to get at 'em. Hehe. I'd assume any doing that are 100% pullets.

How do you know.. um, that what got on your hand was boy-stuff? You sure it wasn't poop? I've never.. had a roo do that- mine are still young though.

 

[ozu]

Oooommmmgggg /wrist LOL, just kidddding =p. Although i did have a hunch that "she" was going to be a he =( was pretty much in denial before posting the pics

I get how you're feeling! I got three little cute silkies... two ended up being boys. I was gunna keep one as a pet but he's become aggressive and now I don't know what to do with him!
The other one is very sweet thankfully. I ended up with one girl... and then went to a breeder instead of a hatchery and bought a girl.

 

[jajeanpierre]

The buff looks like a pullet to me. The top has a pretty round crest.. hows the comb look?

The one with the long tail feathers are throwing me off... are they all the same length?
I have a younger pullet with long tail feathers too- she was a hatchery chick so I figure that explains it (very left).

It seems the hatchery chicks are a lot harder to sex.
The squatting behavior is a pullet behavior. They want a roo to get at 'em. Hehe. I'd assume any doing that are 100% pullets.

How do you know.. um, that what got on your hand was boy-stuff? You sure it wasn't poop? I've never.. had a roo do that- mine are still young though.

I don't know it was "boy-stuff." The little bird was on the ground and I was feeling the space between the pelvic bones and the belly (trying to get an idea of which black Silkie was laying) when it started to quiver and out popped some warm wet stuff. It could very well have been poop, but I only noticed clear fluid, which went off my hand onto the ground. It might have been a coincidence that the bird had to go at the same time I was checking that area.

So, the ones that act like cats in heat if you scratch their backs are definitely pullets? The wings scrunched up and a bit out is pullet mating behavior?

I'll be very relieved if that is the case--I've slaughtered four of five known cockerels and hated doing it, but what do you do with a bunch of cockerels with testosterone poisoning? Those hatchery Silkie cockerels were not very nice and were bitey little things! It was still very, very hard to do after lovingly raising them from day-old chicks. I did not waste any of the meat and made soup out of the bones.

They are really pretty poor quality hatchery chicks. Some of the cockerels had big reddish-burgundy rose combs and large waddles. The little birds that are left--that I believe to be pullets--have much smaller combs than any of the cockerels had. Here is a picture of the comb of the one with the long feathers in the tail. All the others have the same comb. When I went to pick her up, she did that crouching down, wings out and bottom up behavior that I hope is exclusively pullet/hen behavior.

I'm really enjoying the Silkies the way they toddle around.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I get how you're feeling! I got three little cute silkies... two ended up being boys. I was gunna keep one as a pet but he's become aggressive and now I don't know what to do with him!
The other one is very sweet thankfully. I ended up with one girl... and then went to a breeder instead of a hatchery and bought a girl.

Slaughter him. Rehoming a cockerel with testosterone poisoning is rehoming him to someone else's pot unless he is a particularly special show specimen--you might as well enjoy the very healthy meat you've so lovingly raised. The meat is really funny looking but I buried it in a curry. I got two meals out of each cockerel for my husband and myself--curry on one day and soup on another. I skinned them since I was going to use the meat boneless anyway. There is a support group on BackYard (Chicken Processing Day Support Group~HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!) for people like me who have never done anything like that before. Sadly, for every pullet that is hatched there is also a cockerel. They do not always make good pets, can be very rough on the hens and are very noisy.