Silkie thread!

[emvickrey]

Hi everyone! I have some younger silkies and was wondering if anyone can try to sex them? All 3 have been squaring off constantly I'm wondering if I have all Roos

thanks!

My guess is the top one is a pullet and the other 2 are cockerels. I'm not 100% sure on that. I've had girls that squared off so thats not a for sure sign either. How I guess at this age is the roundness of the crest. The 2 on the bottom have the "swayback" look which I've found to be boys. the top one looks like it's crest is going straight up although I can't see the back of it. It looks like a girl to me. Don't count on me being right because I could be wrong. I recently had a frizzled silkie cockerel that I thought was a girl till it crowed. But then the frizzled ones are harder to tell most of the time. For me anyway and I raise alot of frizzled silkies.

 

[shilohriver]

I have a month old Silkie that won't grow no feathers on her feet. Has black skin, black feet,5 toes looks just like one but no feathers on feet. Would anyone no if they can still grow later? Thanks!

 

[Michelle27]

Our Silkies stay cleaner or dirtier depending on the seasons/weather. If there's a lot of caked mud, we'll bring them in for a foot wash with baby shampoo in warm water. The shampoo works better than just plain warm water to remove gunk in the scales and feathers of the Silkie feet. If we wait until after roosting time we'll give them a vitamin E oil leg massage after the foot bath so the oil can absorb into their skin/foot feathers overnight. My vet recommended either A or E oil for their feet/legs/comb/wattles/beak because it was a healthy treatment for their dry extremities. But we do the vitamin E oil after roost so they aren't walking around in dirt before the oil absorbs into feathers/feet. We don't use vaseline or olive oil because they are greasy and the next day feathers will pick up tons of dirt. The vitamin E oil doesn't get greasy if applied for overnight absorption (Walmart for a small vitamin E bottle for $4). Of course we pat dry excess oil before putting the bird back on roost. Whoops! Don't want a slippery chicken.

Just remember that dirty is what chickens do. Ever see all the dust that comes flying out of their feathers after a dust bath? LOL

Could you use coconut oil? An can you put oil on 3 week old chicks there feet look dry to me

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

I wait till they are older before I start wondering if they are boys or girls. At about 2 months old they begin to show signs of their sex. the boys will have a longer neck and generally are bigger than the girls. When the streamers appear it's definately a boy. If the crest is nice and round it's a girl. I also go by the thickness of the legs, if their crest shows more or less of the comb. I don't even try to sex them when they are babies. When I first got into Silkies It was crow or not before I knew. when I tried to guess I was always wrong so I just hatched and studied how they feathered out and what they turned out to be. I don't concider myself a pro about Silkies. There is so much to them. But I can say I know mine and how my babies grow and turn out. As we all do I would imagine.

I am very observant myself and I am seeing subtle traits in all my babies that lead me to think I have a couple roos and I am hoping im wrong but all the signs seem to point to it. They are all the same age but two are noticably bigger and heavier then the other two and even their beaks seem a different shape. I also am already observing one, maybe two seem like their comb is getting wider then the others and they for some reason are the most skittish also lol. I keep hoping they will surprise me and be female but I will not be surprised if they turn out roos. Oh and these babies are only 3 weeks old.

 

[mketchum826]

Hi everyone! I have some younger silkies and was wondering if anyone can try to sex them? All 3 have been squaring off constantly I'm wondering if I have all Roos

thanks!

My guess is the top one is a pullet and the other 2 are cockerels. I'm not 100% sure on that. I've had girls that squared off so thats not a for sure sign either. How I guess at this age is the roundness of the crest. The 2 on the bottom have the "swayback" look which I've found to be boys. the top one looks like it's crest is going straight up although I can't see the back of it. It looks like a girl to me. Don't count on me being right because I could be wrong. I recently had a frizzled silkie cockerel that I thought was a girl till it crowed. But then the frizzled ones are harder to tell most of the time. For me anyway and I raise alot of frizzled silkies.

Thank you! I will post maybe when they are older and fully feathered!

 

[John Simpson]

I think these chicks aren't the silkie breed. They are called mille fleur duccle. Here is a picture of when they get older.

 

[TnMama]

Based on your split wing pic, I'm thinking Fiji may be a FiHE, lol

 

[chick rookie]

Hi, your pictures are cute. I had a question. Im somewhat new here and Got chicks a couple of weeks ago and I had a question. I have three silkie chicks that have all their feathers (their feet are also feathery). But what I dont understand is their comb and feathers. I posted images. You'll notice that the comb is bright red and their feathers a slicker than I thought, like a RIR. They are about 2-2 1/2 weeks old. when I looked at images online the silkies at that age looked like a cotton ball all puffy. I want to know if mine are silkies... or a different breed of chicken. Thanks please reply.

Here they are:

yep those are MF's not Silkies, but I love them and that breed is on my wish list for next season.

They look like Milli Fleur d'Uccle to me. Two roos and a pullet.

x2

Juat wanted to share pics of my 2 new babies....

So cute, I just love them, I just got into Silkies by accident this winter and I'm really falling for them....

 

[TnMama]

They are all just so cute! Polish Crested is on my wish list. My friend has just gotten into Silkies too. His wife saw a pair & HAD to have them at a swap meet. He hatched out 12 just yesterday. I might get one in July when we go back to Ms, just bc I already love the breed. He said it took forever to get 12 eggs to hatch out bc they aren't good layers. I don't care, lol.
I made another TSC Run yesterday for NH Reds so my DH would have his for sure heavy layers. Brought home 2 more bantams from the bin bc I'm a sucker for cuteness. He just shook his head. I told him, "Hello, my name is Sarah & I love ugly chickens" teehee He thinks they're ugly as homemade sin, but I or my DS don't think so. I got 8 heavy layers & 5 just bc bantams. We have them for eggs for us & our families. Can't have a garden on our hill so we provide eggs & planted 4 fruit trees & some berry bushes this tear

 

[MrsHall28]

Would Silkies handle the San Antonio heat ok? It can be over 100 degrees for days and days. I'd love to get a couple, but not if they couldn't handle it.