Silkie thread!

[Madi131]

Does anyone know how to sex day old silkies? I've got 10 eggs about to hatch. Bought them from someone in town. 10 out of the 18 are fertile. It's day 15 today. I'm just trying to figure out if I can tell them apart like regular chicks.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Does anyone know how to sex day old silkies? I've got 10 eggs about to hatch. Bought them from someone in town. 10 out of the 18 are fertile. It's day 15 today. I'm just trying to figure out if I can tell them apart like regular chicks.

Good luck with the hatch!

Unfortunately no you can't sex them at that age. There is vent sexing but I'm not going to advise on that. Pretty much if you know how to do it correctly and you are experienced then it's usually accurate, if you've no experience with it, it can be dangerous and inaccurate.

If you are hatching UK type silkies, you usually have a pretty good idea on sex at around 11 weeks old.

If you are hatching USA type silkies, expect to wait anywhere from 4-6 months before you know what's what!

Partridge silkies of all the colours can usually be sexed sooner.

Silkies are lovely just a pain to sex

 

[Jeddice]

I have 8 Silkies, 4 brown, 3 white and 1 brown/black. They are 4 mos. old. I hope 5 are girls because 3 are definitely boys. I’ve know 1 was a boy for close to 2 mos. Comb, feathers size and now I’ve seen him trying out his “cock-a-doodle do“. They will be re-homed, that’s hard. They are the sweetest little puff balls. 1 girl has a cross beak, she drinks and eat, she’s the smallest. Any recommendations for her?

 

[Madi131]

Good luck with the hatch!

Unfortunately no you can't sex them at that age. There is vent sexing but I'm not going to advise on that. Pretty much if you know how to do it correctly and you are experienced then it's usually accurate, if you've no experience with it, it can be dangerous and inaccurate.

If you are hatching UK type silkies, you usually have a pretty good idea on sex at around 11 weeks old.

If you are hatching USA type silkies, expect to wait anywhere from 4-6 months before you know what's what!

Partridge silkies of all the colours can usually be sexed sooner.

Silkies are lovely just a pain to sex

Does the wing method not work for silkies? I'm just curious. I have the US silkies. Can't wait for them to hatch!

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Does the wing method not work for silkies? I'm just curious. I have the US silkies. Can't wait for them to hatch!

Some people will say you can wing sex them but most of the time that's because they're impure.

Chicks have to have a fast and a slow feathering parent I believe to be able to be wing sexed and silkies don't usually have that.

Personally it's never worked with mine as their wings grow all differently and it made no difference if they were male or female.

You can still try it out though but I wouldn't sell any that look male from their wings as most likely it won't be accurate and you'll have sold some females!

It's hard waiting for them the hatch!

 

[Madi131]

Okay thanks! I'm going to quit turning them after today then it's just a waiting game.

 

[Madi131]

Ahhh babies are hatching! Technically this is day 19. I put them in at like 9 pm and counted that as a day. Watched one hatch this morning. Started piping at 6 and was out of the egg by 7. Crazy how fast this little one was. Hoping the others do the same.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Is this pullet considered "white" or "cream" or what? She has a teeny tiny patch (consists of 1 feather) of gray. Does that change what color she's called?

My daughter and I love this sweet tiny pullet. Hard to believe that she's at the top of the pecking order in a flock of standard size birds

 

[HeatherKellyB]

It's difficult to snap in a picture but it's there and it's definitely not a dirty spot. It's near her fluffy butt

 

[LynnaePB]

View attachment 2003928

Is this pullet considered "white" or "cream" or what? She has a teeny tiny patch (consists of 1 feather) of gray. Does that change what color she's called?

My daughter and I love this sweet tiny pullet. Hard to believe that she's at the top of the pecking order in a flock of standard size birds

I'm curious what you'd call her as well. That creamier white color probably means she is gold based rather than silver based (silver makes the white brighter/crisper). I've heard recessive white doesn't tend to allow other colors to come through, I don't have enough experience with it to say if it would occasionally allow a feather or two to come through with color. Dominant white is leaky and if she had one copy of it like paint silkies do whatever color she had underneath could leak through in spots. Hopefully someone with more experience can give you a better answer though, I'm still pretty new to breeding and understanding genetics.