Three bantams! gender?

[yakitori]

Yay, more bantams for me.

I wasn’t originally going to get a d’uccle, but ugh! she was just too cute and the lady said it was most likely a hen, so... i brought her home too...

So here we have it, 2 D’uccle silkie crosses and a Belgium D’uccle. I gave away two LF hens to make room for these bantams in hopes that when they mature I will have a more balanced flock (3LF and 4 Bantams).

so... any guesses on gender? Will the crosses eventually grow muffs?

They’re around 6 weeks old.

Oh, and, I know the silkie crosses will be hard to sex, but hey, no harm in trying! I have a feeling S’uccle One (yes, that’s what I’m calling them!) is a roo, based on how it’s slightly bigger and more confident/active than the others.


Here we go!
d’uccle (more pics below)



S’uccle One (More black)



S’uccle Two (Mostly white)

 

[cherrynberry]

Would you happen to know how the beard/muff genes work? Is it a dominant trait? I tried searching it up and couldn’t find anything that my dumb brain could understand

Okay, so I read around a little, and apparently muffs are a dominant gene.

 

[yakitori]

No...sadly, I am trying to learn about genetics right now, its so interesting! But from the pictures all of yours seem to have them. Were the silkie's parents bearded silkies? I think it is quite a dominant trait though because most EEs get them.

Oh, that explains the ee muffs

I didn’t think to ask about what the parents looked like ,_,
She did say they parent stock were originally from ideal poultry, which seems to have both bearded and non bearded silkies..

Now I wonder if non crested silkies exist, or would that disqualify them as silkies, lol

 

[Painted Calls]

Look like pullets so far. D'Uccle cockerels develop quickly. By now I'd expect any cockerels to be showing themselves more clearly.

 

[cherrynberry]

Look like pullets so far. D'Uccle cockerels develop quickly. By now I'd expect any cockerels to be showing themselves more clearly.

Do you know about chicken beard genetics?

 

[Painted Calls]

Do you know about chicken beard genetics?

I do not. I'm sorry.

 

[cherrynberry]

I do not. I'm sorry.

Its fine, I was just curious

 

[yakitori]

Look like pullets so far. D'Uccle cockerels develop quickly. By now I'd expect any cockerels to be showing themselves more clearly.

oh yay! This lady seemed like she knew what she was talking about.
The last person I bought from on craigslist tried to tell me that 5 toes silkies were females and 4 toed were male.... She also tried to convince me that the evidently lethargic frizzle I felt sorry for was just "sunbathing"

 

[yakitori]

Pullets for now. Also, they all look to have beards/muffs...

Would you happen to know how the beard/muff genes work? Is it a dominant trait? I tried searching it up and couldn’t find anything that my dumb brain could understand

 

[cherrynberry]

Would you happen to know how the beard/muff genes work? Is it a dominant trait? I tried searching it up and couldn’t find anything that my dumb brain could understand

No...sadly, I am trying to learn about genetics right now, its so interesting! But from the pictures all of yours seem to have them. Were the silkie's parents bearded silkies? I think it is quite a dominant trait though because most EEs get them.