Silkie thread!

[BonRae67]

I'm going look at some 7 week old silkies is there a way to try n help sex them at that age I know there hard to sex just looking for a few thing to look for would like hens only right now

Watch them for a little bit. The roos should be standing more upright. They stand a little taller than the hens. Not a fool proof way, but it is something to look at.

 

[mom of silkies]

I recommend Heatherschickens.com if anyone is intrested in buying some silkies or a few other chickens breeds! It's where I got mine from, They only have black, blue, white, and a few splashes but it's a nice small buisness I like it! Oh! But you can't google search the website... you have to type the url which is... Http://heatherschickens.com It's great you can ask for chickens you want bred together and they'll breed them together for you!

 

[ASilkieLife14]

I'm going look at some 7 week old silkies is there a way to try n help sex them at that age I know there hard to sex just looking for a few thing to look for would like hens only right now

Well last time I bought babies I tried to find the smaller ones. There really isn't a way to tell for sure but all mine ended up being hens. I feel the roosters are normally bigger then the girls but sometimes they can be small to. You kinda just have to guess.

 

[Sylvester017]

n that's the belly of my 1 mth old regular chickens from my own flock a chicken hatched 1 so it lives with my silkie chicks. Plz help if there sick n I can do anything from them I don't wanna lose them

Just for instances like this I have lined up a vet that sees chickens so I don't have to guess, misdiagnose, or self-medicate for the wrong ailment. Chicks and chickens pretend to behave normally if they're ill. By the time you notice something "wrong" in their behavior they've been sick for a while. That's not to say your chicks are sick but why guess when a vet can tell you for certain? We don't hesitate to take our dog or cat to the vet and I feel the same about our chickens. It's all part of the responsibility of having animals/livestock.

 

[Sylvester017]

Watch them for a little bit. The roos should be standing more upright. They stand a little taller than the hens. Not a fool proof way, but it is something to look at.

I agree with BonRae67 about the stance but still not 100% accurate.

After getting sold a "pullet" that turned out a "roo" I don't buy Silkies younger than 3 months when it's fairly accurate what sex they are. There's DNA testing about $25 for positive ID but you still have to wait 4 weeks for results. At that point you might as well wait a few extra weeks until the birds are obviously identifiable.

 

[kristin07035]

I agree with BonRae67 about the stance but still not 100% accurate.

After getting sold a "pullet" that turned out a "roo" I don't buy Silkies younger than 3 months when it's fairly accurate what sex they are.  There's DNA testing about $25 for positive ID but you still have to wait 4 weeks for results.  At that point you might as well wait a few extra weeks until the birds are obviously identifiable.

When they are 3 months old what should be obvious to know the sex? What should i look for? (I have silkie eggs I'm putting in incubator on sat)

 

[Kelxey]

When they are 3 months old what should be obvious to know the sex? What should i look for? (I have silkie eggs I'm putting in incubator on sat)

Well my roo was crowing constantly before he was even 3 months, so that was a pretty obvious sign lol

but my dad basically picked out the gender when they were very young and just starting to grow out the comb, my roo had a much wider comb, plus he was bigger because he liked to eat the most. I miss him

 

[kristin07035]

Sorry for your loss
Thats great to hear!

Well my roo was crowing constantly before he was even 3 months, so that was a pretty obvious sign lol   but my dad basically picked out the gender when they were very young and just starting to grow out the comb, my roo had a much wider comb, plus he was bigger because he liked to eat the most. I miss him

I've heard silkies were slower developing, didn't crow til 8+ months and you couldn't tell easily from their combs

 

[Kelxey]

Sorry for your loss

Thats great to hear!

I've heard silkies were slower developing, didn't crow til 8+ months and you couldn't tell easily from their combs

Thanks Kristin. I think since you are incubating them yourself, you could just keep an eye out as they develop and grow for any differences! This was just my limited experience with 3 silkies. Like another member said don't go making life or death decisions just based on opinion, I hope you get what you want from your batch and show us pictures when they hatch!!

 

[Sylvester017]

When they are 3 months old what should be obvious to know the sex? What should i look for? (I have silkie eggs I'm putting in incubator on sat)

On some males the comb looks wider and longer - wasn't that obvious on our Partridge boy.
On the males the crest has more backward growing streamer feathers rather than the softer poofy females.
On the males they will start having shiny streamer feathers coming out of their poofy tail.
On the males there will be much shinier streamer feathers on crest/tail where the females will be a duller rounder poofy compact look.
On the males' stance they begin to stand more erect, even as chicks, preparing for their adulthood as watchful guardians. Females will occasionally stand up tall but for the most part they walk around low to the ground with very fluffy round crests and tails and will generally be just a wee bit smaller than males.

Note: None of this made any difference in ID'ing our Partridge boy. It was 4-5 months before we were sure he was a boy because he had a brilliant shiny array of feathers and colors that his Partridge sister didn't have and he was more outgoing. We would've kept him because he was great but he was just too noisy crowing and too horny towards his sister.