Silkies/How can you tell male/female?

[ezgreen]

I have one that is obviously a rooster. But out of 10 chickens I am only getting 1 egg a day. I am not sure the age of the chickens that were given to me the other day, so maybe they are not old enough to lay eggs.

How can you tell male/female silikies? I will post the picture from earlier and it is obvious the big guy is a rooster. Is this the typical look of a silkie rooster, or do some male/females look alike?

 

[muddyhorse]

the boys crow and the girls lay eggs

silkies can be hard to sex. they don't start laying until 7-10 months old. look for streamers on the males those are long feathers coming out of the crest
Streamers

how old are the silkies ?

 

[The Fairy Godmartyr]

I have two silkie roosters an one pullet (at 6 months old, she still hasn't laid an egg, so your birds may just still be on the young side--silkies mature late and don't lay frequently once they do). I have pictures of them on my website if you want to see the differences between mine: http://fairygodmartyr.com/index.php/homeschooling/51-homeschool2010/130-chickens-passed-and-present.

The comb and wattles on mature silkie roosters are much bigger than on the hens. But until they mature, it is hard to tell. The pictures on my website were from a few weeks ago, when my one roo was finally starting to get the comb and wattles. They have become much more pronounced even since then. And he just started trying to crow this week (the other roo has been crowing for a couple of months, and they hatched the same day). Assuming they are all the same age, though, I would guess that all three white ones and the black one next to the rooster are all females. I can't see the others well enough to say one way or the other.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Sexing Silkies is one of the great poultry debate topics.

Until it either crows or lays an egg no one can agree.

 

[ezgreen]

Thanks so much! This site is great!

I am not sure how old they are. They were dropped off in my backyard a few days ago from a ranch where aggressive chickens were attacking them. I think the rooster is older than all of the others, he is crowing. But it is such a polite crow, he is a keeper. I love him.

The first day they were all huddled together like they were worn out from that ranch. Now they are fluffing up and are getting fatter already.

I already had 3 silkies and one of them laid an egg a day. The other 2 have not laid at all. The one that laid an egg a day is the only one that the rooster is "going after", if you get my drift. Is it because the others are too young?

I am almost thinking he is the only rooster based on the mannerisms in the yard and he is the only one that crows.

Did not realize sexing silkies was a big poultry debate, good to know. That information will help me not go crazy over trying to figure it out.

The main reason I want to know is I want eggs for myself and my neighbors.

Thanks again for the very helpful information.

 

[silkydragon]

Quote:
not usually true with silkies id say its more an exception then a rule a few of my bearded roos you can barly see a comb or wattle just like the hens i look at the crest if its rounded its a hen if it has a slicked back look its a rooster.

heres a shortcut to my thread all the silkies you see on this thread are roosters(i may put the camera in the breeding pen someday for pics of my hens)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=426576 (anything to advertise

)

 

[mamaof2]

Quote:
We refer to this at our house as "chicken surfing." It is something we can say in front of our 10 year old son, and that is what it looks like.

 

[ezgreen]

Does it chicken surf with hens that aren't laying eggs yet? Or just the egg-layers?

 

[PamB]

My roo mostly "surfs" with the two hens that are laying. However, he has tried with others...including one that I believe is a boy.

 

[ezgreen]

So, basically, you can't really tell male from female, and they will surf with either.

Dang liberals!

(just kidding)