Silkies - roos or pullets?

[debir1966]

I have 4 silkie chicks that are just over 12 weeks old. I am hoping someone can help me identify if they are roos or pullets

White silkie #1 "Blue"




White silkie #2: "Snowball"




Gray Silkie #1: "Tiny Tot"




Gray silkie #2: "Fluffy"




Blue is the only one with a bright blue ear. Tiny Tot is TINY - half the size of the other silkies. Fluffy has the biggest puffball on her/his head.

Thanks everyone!

 

[hdowden]

the 1st and 2nd ones look like cockerels and the other 2 pullets

 

[debir1966]

hdowden - so you think both the white ones are roos and the gray ones pullets? Is it the combs, feathers on their heads or the feathers on their tails that you look at mostly (or a combination of)? We were hoping to have at least 1 of each be a pullet.

 

[hdowden]

for the whites they both have good sized combs and the beardless one even has wattles going on, they both also appear to have streamers coming from their crest.

with the gray if the first one is the same age as the rest i am leaning towards pullet on it due to lack of comb and wattles but i would watch that one cause it appears that there are wattles starting to come in on it. as for the 2nd gray one lack of comb and very nice rounded crest with no streamers says pullet all the way

do keep in mind that silkies are one of the harder breeds to sex

 

[Tricoglossus]

1. Looks like a rooster due to streamers. Note that bearded silkies never grow prominent wattles in either sex
2. Rooster - large wattles and wide comb. Female non-bearded silkies also grow wattles but they are never as big as this at 12 weeks of age
3. I am leaning towards rooster as well for this one due to the crest having a swept back rather than round appearance. If this one's a boy, the wattles will grow in quickly over the next few weeks
4. Pullet - lovely round crest and dainty small comb

 

[debir1966]

Thank you every one! What are streamers? Do you look for them just on the crest or on the tail feathers too?

Could you post some pics (and hopefully some close-up head shots) of your silkies indicating which is a roo or a hen?

Tiny Tot is still tiny, I think she/he is a runt! I need to get a pic of Tiny and one of the others for size comparison. I will try to do that if the weather gets nicer in the next few days, we are getting snow/rain .. ie mud! right now and no one has clean feet!

 

[debir1966]

Well we will never know for sure if Tiny Tot was a roo or a pullet, this morning after we let the birds out to free-range, she somehow got into the livestock water tank and drowned. It was a somber lesson for my kids, this was the first chicken we have lost through an accident. I am just thankful it was not one of their "favorites" as it was sad enough.

 

[Tricoglossus]

That's awful, poor Tiny Tot, so sorry to hear that

It's probably best to make sure there is no way for anyone else to get into the tank.

 

[debir1966]

Thank you Tricoglossus! We did dump that tank because it was an extra for the horse who is now using the ditch but we do have 2 more water tanks for our other livestock. I am at a loss how to keep another bird from falling in - we free range our poultry and there is no way to keep them out of the livestock pens. I am just hoping it doesn't happen again.