Trying to figure out genders...

[platinum]

I have a lovely silkie, but she/he seems aggressive to the other chickens, and especially to the new chickies I have. The little chicks are in their own pen, but I've had one in particular(more on that one in a minute) that has slipped out a few times, and the silkie attacks it every time. So I'm trying to figure out if the silkie is a rooster, because I think I have an overload of roosters. This one is about 15 weeks old.

Here is "Puffers":


And here is a headshot


Now to the next one. The escapee mentioned above is a lovely black and white EE. I am pretty sure this one is a rooster, but I'm really hoping I'm wrong because he is a lovely lovely bird. This one is about 5 weeks old. I'm sorry about the quality of the pictures, this guy is too friendly and wouldn't move away from the camera.
Here is "Pepper":





And lastly, the only one I bought as an actual rooster. Unnamed blue silkie who is so docile and shy, I'm wondering if this one is actually a hen. Also about 5 weeks old, which may be too early to tell, but if anyone can tell, that'd be great!

Mainly for size comparison... looks small compared to the other silkies, but maybe its just me.


I'd like to only have one rooster as I'm afraid there won't be enough hens to go around, and I don't want any fighting. I really need to figure out who's who! Please let me know if you have any thoughts!

 

[sourland]

The EE is a cockerel. I won't even venture a guess on the silkies.

 

[Alex15]

I think with silkies, you can either tell an early age like other chickens (mine were obvious at 8 weeks old as my roo had a massive comb and waddles and started crowing for me at 11 weeks) or they're really difficult to tell until they crow/lay an egg which can be as late as 8 months! I'm guessing you have the later kind as your white one doesn't have a big comb or wattles, but neither does he have to pom pom crest hens have. I would guess possibly roo as he does have that swept back look of roos and maybe I can see thin pointy and shiny hackle feathers around his neck? You can probably see better in person. I have no idea about your little grey one! Cute though. But my silkie hen was always way smaller than the roo, so could well be a hen! You probably have to wait a bit longer, but if everyone is getting along thus far you can keep them all for now!

Oh and the EE does also look like a roo!

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

The EE is a cockerel.And puffers looks to be too, but silkies are hard to sex sometimes.And I don't know about the younger silkie, but it does look quite a bit smaller than the others.

 

[ramirezframing]

ee is a roo, I have a silkie hen like yours (she has even killed a silkie rooster on me) but she is feathered like yours in the crest and has never had much of a tail. I'd wait for an egg or crow on it

 

[platinum]

Thank you everyone! Now that the EE is confirmed roo, I must figure out a way to keep him and make this flock work. My husband is very attached to him.

Thank you very much for trying to explain the feathers, it's just hard for my to understand what I'm supposed to look for. I can see about getting better pictures of Puffers. It's difficult to tell him/her apart from another white silkie I have, which I am really hoping is not also a roo. I'm assuming Puffers is the only agressor, as there haven't been two silkies attacking baby EE, just one white silkie. I managed to seperate this one yesterday because I witnessed an aggressive display from it to another silkie (different silkie from the doplanger). Puffers puffed up her neck and brought her wings up and spooked the other silkie away about 2 feet. I assume Puffers wanted some snack that the other silkie had. Is this normal behavior for a hen or does it point directly to roo? I know they work out their "pecking order", so I'm wondering if that is what I witnessed.

Thanks again for all the help. Until Puffer's gender is confirmed, I'll keep everyone in the group as long as everyone gets along. I'm hoping now for the best possible outcome, with Puffers and gray silkie both being hens, with Puffers hopefully being a bit nicer! A girl can dream

 

[ramirezframing]

well my silkie hens will fight with each other but nothing too bad most the time. BB (the one that killed a silkie rooster) is in a whole different book then the other silkies. She is no longer with my other silkies.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

My Silkie girls spare too. Its nothing terrible, pretty funny actually bc they can't see very well. They start out fighting with each other and end up fighting with the fence or side of the coop bc they've wondered off

Something to keep in mind about your Silkie, Puffers, is that its non-bearded. NB Silkies will have much larger combs and wattles that bearded, even the hens. I'm not even going to venture a guess. I've had Silkies for a while and struggle to sex them still.

I do agree your EE is a boy. A VERY handsome one at that!

 

[Alex15]

My Silkie girls spare too. Its nothing terrible, pretty funny actually bc they can't see very well. They start out fighting with each other and end up fighting with the fence or side of the coop bc they've wondered off

Something to keep in mind about your Silkie, Puffers, is that its non-bearded. NB Silkies will have much larger combs and wattles that bearded, even the hens. I'm not even going to venture a guess. I've had Silkies for a while and struggle to sex them still.

I do agree your EE is a boy. A VERY handsome one at that!

Lol at your hens ending up fighting with fences! They are such silly things! I just gav my silkie hen a haircut, I felt too bad for her walking into things and always getting left behind!

I found that when they were much younger (2-6 weeks) both my silkie hen and roo were feisty little things with all my bigger breeds (australorps etc), which was hilarious as they were teeny tiny and they did these little fly kicks at the bigger chicks and everything. But once they entered their teenage phase I suppose around 8 weeks or so, my hen became quiet as a mouse and doesnt fight with anyone, whereas my roo quite often picks fights with my big hens. Theyre all about 17 weeks now I think and Rusty the roo has settled a bit and picks fewer fights!