Too Many Roos?

[OffBeatBetty]

I got 4 chicks when they were about a month old, 3 silkies and an orpington. They are now almost 4 months old and I definitely know the Orpington is a pullet... but---much to my dismay--- I fear ALL 3 of my silkies are Roos! Talk about bad luck.

To try to even things out, I got 2 salmon faverolles that have been sexed as pullets... they are younger and I'm going to integrate them into the flock after the quarantine period. So, that means I will eventually have 3 roos (silkies) and 3 pullets (orpington and faverolles) as a flock. I feel I can deal with the potential noise issue (we are going to sound-proof the coop), but now my concern is that this will not be enough girls for the amount of boys that I have. Is a 1:1 ratio enough? Or am I just asking for trouble and fighting? 6 chickens is really the max that I can have in my coop and for where I live. I'm absolutely heart broken and thought at least one silkie would be a girl.

 

[five is my dog]

can you post pics of your silkies? i would never have that many roos with so little hens. a lot of people will get silkie roos just make them cheap. f you keep them matting will be brutal and so will fighting between roos. you will end up with torn up hens and roos. so get rid of them some way!

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

For a single roo, a 1:3 ratio works, but for multiple you need at least a 1:8, more is better.
So sorry

 

[OffBeatBetty]

That's what I was afraid of.... *sigh* I guess I will need to find homes for a couple of the boys or take them back to the farm I got them from (they take roos back if needed and that was one of the reasons I purchased from them since silkies are sooo hard to sex) They are not crowing or acting aggressive or doing any mating behavior as of yet.... so I will hold on for the time being to be 100% certain they are roos. But judging by the size of their walnut combs, their hackle feathers, and the shape of their crests I feel they are. But I'll cross fingers that maybe I just got some manly girls (can you tell I'm still in denial?)

 

[five is my dog]

are you able to post pics????

 

[OffBeatBetty]

Here are the three roos in question.... body shots and close-ups of combs. Thank you for looking!

 

[OffBeatBetty]

And the buff one has such GLORIOUS pantaloons and has such a sweet disposition. Maybe I will be able to keep "him" at least. I'm so sad because I've wanted silkies for so many years now and finally bought my first home with a yard! Total bummer.

 

[five is my dog]

i think the first 2 are hens and the last is a roo but im not an expert on silkies!

 

[five is my dog]

after a second look the first one may be a roo

 

[OffBeatBetty]

UPDATE: The black one began crowing about a week ago. So, my suspicion about him was correct. The others look so similar to him that I'm inclined to think they are also roos, even if they haven't started crowing yet.