Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[Hinotori]

Pullet? I really hope so ! 3 1/2 months View attachment 3651325View attachment 3651326View attachment 3651327View attachment 3651328

I don't see any streamers coming off the head. Doesn't look like comb is getting big. I'd still wait a few more weeks, but I think it's a girl.

 

[Elliemae1984]

When does everyone think is the “safe” time to know if a silkie is a pullet or cockerel?

My chicks are now 13 weeks and although I’m very confident in my partridge coop, I’m SO torn on most of my “greyscale” coop. This is the first I’ve have BBS (+ paint and lavender) chicks and most of them are confusing me. I’m confident I have 2 boys and 2 girls…the other 6 I flip flop daily.

So, at what age should I be trusting my gut on their genders?

Bonus question: what’s the biggest gender indicator in your mind? I always relied heavily on comb, but I was recently told this “isn’t at all accurate”. Really?!?

 

[Hinotori]

When does everyone think is the “safe” time to know if a silkie is a pullet or cockerel?

My chicks are now 13 weeks and although I’m very confident in my partridge coop, I’m SO torn on most of my “greyscale” coop. This is the first I’ve have BBS (+ paint and lavender) chicks and most of them are confusing me. I’m confident I have 2 boys and 2 girls…the other 6 I flip flop daily.

So, at what age should I be trusting my gut on their genders?

Bonus question: what’s the biggest gender indicator in your mind? I always relied heavily on comb, but I was recently told this “isn’t at all accurate”. Really?!?

Comb, wattles (even on bearded), streamers off back of head. Knowing your line makes it much easier.

Partridge is by far the easiest to sex because of the color difference between sexes. Some of them I can sex by 3-4 weeks because they are very obvious pullets. By 8 weeks I'll have 90% sexed. Sometimes I get cockerels that could be off color pullets because they have too much orange and are maturing slowly. Had a cockerel do that this spring. His color could have gone either way but his wattles and comb said cockerel. Color and size of those

Usually I can look even the few white or black cockerels I have in the face and tell around 8-12 weeks.

 

[MROO]

When does everyone think is the “safe” time to know if a silkie is a pullet or cockerel?

My chicks are now 13 weeks and although I’m very confident in my partridge coop, I’m SO torn on most of my “greyscale” coop. This is the first I’ve have BBS (+ paint and lavender) chicks and most of them are confusing me. I’m confident I have 2 boys and 2 girls…the other 6 I flip flop daily.

So, at what age should I be trusting my gut on their genders?

Bonus question: what’s the biggest gender indicator in your mind? I always relied heavily on comb, but I was recently told this “isn’t at all accurate”. Really?!?

Personally, I'm not convinced until I either hear him crow ... or she drops an egg in my hand!

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

For anyone with some colour genetics knowledge.
I'm trying to figure out rough guesses (because I know some colours can hide a heap of other colours) on what colour babies will be if I breed my Silver Blue Partridge to my Black hen. I'm getting a little confused by the silver genetics will any be silver or not??

 

[Hinotori]

For anyone with some colour genetics knowledge.
I'm trying to figure out rough guesses (because I know some colours can hide a heap of other colours) on what colour babies will be if I breed my Silver Blue Partridge to my Black hen. I'm getting a little confused by the silver genetics will any be silver or not??

Silver is a base color the same as gold. They are on the sex chromosome Z so females only inherit 1 copy from their father. Males get a copy from each parent. Silver is incomplete dominant. Usually the birds look like a lighter version of gold of they have a copy of each. You can do sex link with it.

Now the question is, is your black hen silver or gold based.

BBS is silver based so there isn't rusting on the lighter color when in the sun

Straight black is supposed to be gold based. Can tell by beetling sheen on the tail or wings. It's actually getting hard to find straight black birds.

 

[Hinotori]

Oh meant to add. Pullets will be silver any which way if the father is silver based.

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

Oh meant to add. Pullets will be silver any which way if the father is silver based.

So it is the same silver as in other breeds, then I understand it.
I think this time I might breed her to the splash instead.

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

This is her, I never realised she was so brown...
Does that mean she's gold based?

 

[Hinotori]

So it is the same silver as in other breeds, then I understand it.
I think this time I might breed her to the splash instead.

On top of the base colors of silver and gold, there is also the color pattern in chickens called silver.

Not my pictures. I couldn't dig up my old pictures from when I had silver ameraucana. They are basically silver based partridge in the literal sense. Black patterned silver duckwing vs the black patterned gold duckwing. Chicken color names aren't necessarily the same as the actual pattern.