Thanks for confirming that it's tricky to tell, I also notice the roosters grow larger and have bigger legs and bearded ones may only have tiny wattles. That face 2:30 😲 you can see his streamers. Another thing, the boys tend to be 'on watch' and also look you in the eye. 👍🐓
Thankyou so so much for making this video, I've got 3 silkies that I am still trying to identify.. and they all like you say look the same. It's incredibly difficult. Il just have to keep watching them and hope a few are hens 🙈🤞🏼🐔
i appreciate that you mentioned the "hormonal dormancy" that occurs for subordinate roosters. i am trying to determine the sex of my 6 week old Silkies and have watched many videos and read many articles and blogs but no one, other than you, has mentioned that the hierarchy can affect the expression of male characteristics. Weirdly, my little ones seem to be trying to decide who is the alpha and, thus, are showing off as much as possible at 6 weeks. Outside of a DNA test, i will not be able to tell who is male. i am going to guess and tag and see how accurate my estimations.
I just noticed this in my supposed male chicks as well. I have two silkie and then two non silkie one of which is obviously a male. He developed very quickly being a Rhode Island Red his characteristics were obvious very early. However my silkies were so hard to sex....until one started laying at 7 months, tiny fairie eggs. I noticed though that the other silkie looked kind of male but not exactly, and he's very timid and shy when the Rhode Island comes around. He seems to be submitting to the dominance of the Rhode Island, who is VERY randy. He crows all day and mates with all the other chickens as much as they will allow (they hide in places where he can't physically mount them). The silkie who I believe is a male will just scarper when Big Boi is doing his business. So I've noticed his male characteristics are very subdued. I'm glad I have someone to confirm what I've been thinking.
Great Video! Just what I’ve been looking for someone to tell me!! I’ll only know when they are closer to a year old! lol I’m glad you mentioned that about the dad.. mine are all mixed in now & I don’t want him to kill my cockerels but don’t know which they are to separate them. They will be ok living together for a year?
Know what’s weird? The slow growing gene seems to be dominant because even F1 hybrids of silkie (I got a bunch of these!!) were impossible to sex at 4 months old and I ended up with three Roos. They were crossed with Orpington and Marans- both fast growing. One rooster didn’t start crowing until 10 months and the others followed. The Pea comb is dominant too, in this case I have 4 rooster chicks that are extremely ambiguous that came from that mixed silkie flock and I have to grow them out to be sure… because I likely won’t know for sure for another 3 months 😅 Thanks for this video, between this and the article I read last night I think I understand… I thought my powers of observation were failing but sexing silkies is impossible even for breed experts
We have 3, a brown, white and black one. Brown one is small, like a hen - the black crows all the time and we though was a male. The white...looks like a male. Oddly the white has laid eggs solidly for 9 months - to the point we are thinking she might be a battery chicken dressed in silkie clothes, the brown and black are also female but get so broody we never see them and just cluck in the coop. Until you see an egg pop out of each you are so unsure.
lol.. that was funny when you suddenly said.. "no this isn't (a rooster)".. curious myself as i just got a couple 7 weeks old bantam silkies and i caught myself trying to guess their sex, but i think now it's really impossible no matter how "roosterish" some of the silkies might act..
I’ve raised chickens for 15 years, and I’ve had Silkies as one of those breeds. I was in the brooding area one morning, I think eight weeks the Silkies were they were listening to the rooster crowing outside… and all of a sudden one of those silky started to crow..
Thank you for sharing! I just got two silkie chicks along with 6 others type of chicks and was wondering about it. Hopefully I don’t end up with more than one rooster…. again….
I have been growing silkies for many years and I have no problem with gender recognition! I can identify the sex in the first days after hatching by vent sexing, it's a bigger problem for me to mark those chicks.☺ 15-day-old chicks show their gender by their behavior in the brooder, males are bolder, hold their heads high, are cocky... females are usually huddled in a corner. Likewise, males have thicker legs than females! All of this (except vent sexing) is not 100% accurate, but it can help a lot when sorting males from females! After 2-3 months of age, I can guess the gender with 99% accuracy just by looking at the entire head of the silkies! Males have larger wattles and crests compared to females. Their hood has the shape of a slicked-back hairstyle, for females, the structure of the hood is more rounded, softer and larger.
Thank you for that! We have 4 5 week old silkies we’ve added to our flock. We’re currently taking bets. 😂Super helpful! Don’t tell my family I’ve been here.
Yes and no, in the absence of a male a female can sometimes take a dominant role and will do a crow of sorts but it's nothing compared to an actual male. It is rare but can happen.
I have a 14 month old golden seabright that has been laying eggs for over 6 months. I have no rooster, only 9 hens. She took on the dominant role as a rooster, makes the noise to alert the others that there is food, and she will often time, crow like a rooster.
I'm in this situation where I had 3 silkies from tractor supply. I had one end up being a male evident because of the crowing in the morning but the others never did it before.Long story short my male passed away and one of the other silkies just started crowing today? What does that mean it's also a male to or?
They are so funny! Love silkies! We have two and love them so much
Silkies are the best and Silkies Roosters are so wonderful 🤗
Love how he relaxed and started to nap after you were holding him. Handsome boy 🩶
Thanks for confirming that it's tricky to tell, I also notice the roosters grow larger and have bigger legs and bearded ones may only have tiny wattles. That face 2:30 😲 you can see his streamers. Another thing, the boys tend to be 'on watch' and also look you in the eye. 👍🐓
Loved how he looked dead in the camera 😂
Beautiful bird and I just got into incubating and hatching silkie eggs and I’m loving it! ❤️
Just bought my first 4 silkies. Thank you for the helpful info!
Thankyou so so much for making this video, I've got 3 silkies that I am still trying to identify.. and they all like you say look the same. It's incredibly difficult. Il just have to keep watching them and hope a few are hens 🙈🤞🏼🐔
Thank you! Wonderful information that I needed!
i appreciate that you mentioned the "hormonal dormancy" that occurs for subordinate roosters.
i am trying to determine the sex of my 6 week old Silkies and have watched many videos and read many articles and blogs but no one, other than you, has mentioned that the hierarchy can affect the expression of male characteristics.
Weirdly, my little ones seem to be trying to decide who is the alpha and, thus, are showing off as much as possible at 6 weeks. Outside of a DNA test, i will not be able to tell who is male. i am going to guess and tag and see how accurate my estimations.
It's something that I've witnessed time and time again but no, I've also found no official papers on the topic. Good luck with the tagging
I just noticed this in my supposed male chicks as well. I have two silkie and then two non silkie one of which is obviously a male. He developed very quickly being a Rhode Island Red his characteristics were obvious very early. However my silkies were so hard to sex....until one started laying at 7 months, tiny fairie eggs. I noticed though that the other silkie looked kind of male but not exactly, and he's very timid and shy when the Rhode Island comes around. He seems to be submitting to the dominance of the Rhode Island, who is VERY randy. He crows all day and mates with all the other chickens as much as they will allow (they hide in places where he can't physically mount them).
The silkie who I believe is a male will just scarper when Big Boi is doing his business. So I've noticed his male characteristics are very subdued. I'm glad I have someone to confirm what I've been thinking.
Great Video! Just what I’ve been looking for someone to tell me!! I’ll only know when they are closer to a year old! lol
I’m glad you mentioned that about the dad.. mine are all mixed in now & I don’t want him to kill my cockerels but don’t know which they are to separate them. They will be ok living together for a year?
@brittneyferguson1555 they should be but depends on available space. Any issues will start in the spring
Know what’s weird? The slow growing gene seems to be dominant because even F1 hybrids of silkie (I got a bunch of these!!) were impossible to sex at 4 months old and I ended up with three Roos. They were crossed with Orpington and Marans- both fast growing. One rooster didn’t start crowing until 10 months and the others followed. The Pea comb is dominant too, in this case I have 4 rooster chicks that are extremely ambiguous that came from that mixed silkie flock and I have to grow them out to be sure… because I likely won’t know for sure for another 3 months 😅
Thanks for this video, between this and the article I read last night I think I understand… I thought my powers of observation were failing but sexing silkies is impossible even for breed experts
What about th colour change in their wattles - does that change when closer to laying? My female is going red but her sibling isnt - any thoughts
Thank you very much! Very helpful!
We have 3, a brown, white and black one. Brown one is small, like a hen - the black crows all the time and we though was a male. The white...looks like a male.
Oddly the white has laid eggs solidly for 9 months - to the point we are thinking she might be a battery chicken dressed in silkie clothes, the brown and black are also female but get so broody we never see them and just cluck in the coop. Until you see an egg pop out of each you are so unsure.
lol.. that was funny when you suddenly said.. "no this isn't (a rooster)".. curious myself as i just got a couple 7 weeks old bantam silkies and i caught myself trying to guess their sex, but i think now it's really impossible no matter how "roosterish" some of the silkies might act..
I’ve raised chickens for 15 years, and I’ve had Silkies as one of those breeds. I was in the brooding area one morning, I think eight weeks the Silkies were they were listening to the rooster crowing outside… and all of a sudden one of those silky started to crow..
Can you check their vents earlier on? Males normally have a smaller vent and feamales a larger one. Or does that not work with silkies?
Thank you for sharing! I just got two silkie chicks along with 6 others type of chicks and was wondering about it. Hopefully I don’t end up with more than one rooster…. again….
Thank you soooo much this is very informative funny and honestly you are acting like a Dad with bad kids
I tell mostly by how they move and behave like you said bcuz yes it's really hard to tell 😂
I have been growing silkies for many years and I have no problem with gender recognition! I can identify the sex in the first days after hatching by vent sexing, it's a bigger problem for me to mark those chicks.☺ 15-day-old chicks show their gender by their behavior in the brooder, males are bolder, hold their heads high, are cocky... females are usually huddled in a corner. Likewise, males have thicker legs than females! All of this (except vent sexing) is not 100% accurate, but it can help a lot when sorting males from females! After 2-3 months of age, I can guess the gender with 99% accuracy just by looking at the entire head of the silkies! Males have larger wattles and crests compared to females. Their hood has the shape of a slicked-back hairstyle, for females, the structure of the hood is more rounded, softer and larger.
would you be able to take a look at my silkies? They’re about 2 months old :).
Could you look at nine to help?
Could u look a some of mine ?
Thank you for that! We have 4 5 week old silkies we’ve added to our flock. We’re currently taking bets. 😂Super helpful! Don’t tell my family I’ve been here.
I have 3 atm 9-10 weeks old all hatched same day the suspected males have a backwards Mohawk and the girl has a Afro
How old is the chicken?
I figured out mine a Rooster heard him crow this morning. He quiet till I go feed goats,and chickens.
Do silkie chicks sound different
Yes they purr softer
My first 2 silkies turned out to be males. Got 4 more, pretty sure one is female, another crowed today, unsure on the other 2 😅
I have had male luck with silkies. One female and 6 males I finally went and bought 3 more and wondered if I could get some female luck. 🎉😅
@@Aussicanhomestead2018 haha turned out they were all boys 😭😂
I figured mine out. He has tiny spurs that developed.
I just got two silkie chicks I tried to pick some out due to the tail feathers hopefully they grow into females lol
Can female crow
Yes and no, in the absence of a male a female can sometimes take a dominant role and will do a crow of sorts but it's nothing compared to an actual male. It is rare but can happen.
I have a 14 month old golden seabright that has been laying eggs for over 6 months. I have no rooster, only 9 hens. She took on the dominant role as a rooster, makes the noise to alert the others that there is food, and she will often time, crow like a rooster.
I'm in this situation where I had 3 silkies from tractor supply. I had one end up being a male evident because of the crowing in the morning but the others never did it before.Long story short my male passed away and one of the other silkies just started crowing today? What does that mean it's also a male to or?
I have some silkies and sent there DNA to a lab to test for Hen or Rooster
chicken :)
Most helpful. Thank you.