silkie sexing

geniva10 · Aug 17, 2016

hdowden said:
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.

6 -7weeks old

nzsilkie · Aug 18, 2016

I have one silkie who is coming up 5 months in a fortnight and I'm still stumped on its gender. It has a larger comb than my other silkies, however a smaller comb than much younger silkie roosters I've seen. Could it be a hen with a large comb or is it a roo? Thoughts?

jenniferlamar70 · Aug 19, 2016

Ok so I have 3 silkie chicks who are 10 weeks now. I'm hoping someone can help me sex them. I suspect one may be a cockerel by the way an older rooster reacted to it but other then that I'm clueless. Any help would be much appreciated..
Chick 1

Chick 2

Chick 3

yeye5 · Aug 19, 2016

This is my Sammie (Samuel if cockerel, Samantha if pullet)

@jenniferlamar70
wish I could tell you because then I could also sex my own chicks. Mine are 1 weeks younger than yours. Otherwise we could have twins/duplicates...which is very cute.
Given the characteristics I see in mine, I have one yellow/buff that (mine) looks to be cockerel. Only due to that, yours might be a pullet?
The chick #2, I'd guess pullet, but please do not depend at all on my take. The chicks I have are my very first silkie chicks to hatch from my pair.
On #3 I really can't even guess.
But I'd love to see the development in yours and compare to mine. Maybe together we can come up with a few clues

This is my Noni/Nona.
Don't they look very much alike?

I hope we both find out soon!

jenniferlamar70 · Aug 19, 2016

yeye5 said:
This is my Sammie (Samuel if cockerel, Samantha if pullet) @jenniferlamar70 wish I could tell you because then I could also sex my own chicks. Mine are 1 weeks younger than yours. Otherwise we could have twins/duplicates...which is very cute. Given the characteristics I see in mine, I have one yellow/buff that (mine) looks to be cockerel. Only due to that, yours might be a pullet? The chick #2, I'd guess pullet, but please do not depend at all on my take. The chicks I have are my very first silkie chicks to hatch from my pair. On #3 I really can't even guess. But I'd love to see the development in yours and compare to mine. Maybe together we can come up with a few clues Wow yours really do look like mine. these are my first silkies so I have no clue how to sex them lol. Your more equipped then I am lol. hopefully we will both know sooner then later.. This is my Noni/Nona. Don't they look very much alike? I hope we both find out soon!