I have found that certain weeks of age are easier than others for telling which are boys and which are girls. Newborns that are hatched together out of the same color pen can be judged on size. Males tend to be larger and more curious than the females. If you want more information about sexing younger silkies, check out “sexing young silkie chicks.Īt around three weeks, males will begin to be more aggressive and will play fight with other males in the same pen. The silkie comb on males may begin to show some signs of development from three weeks onward. A upside down “U” at the top part of the comb may be the beginning of a wider developing comb and signal a male. Females tend to have a more narrow upside down “V” at the top of their combs. Males will continue to develop their combs which will become wider and may get bumpy. After twelve weeks the female comb begins to get wider as well and males and females will begin to look similar again.ĪT VJP Poultry we have a rooster return policy. I had a customer return a rooster for rehoming last week that was around four months old. I asked him why he thought it was a rooster at that young age and he said that it was because it had a mean disposition. ![]() I put my hand down next to it and it immediately pecked it – hard!Īfter the customer left, I began looking more closely at the bird. It was a pet quality partridge or buff silkie. The more I looked at it, the more I just couldn’t get a handle on whether I thought it was a boy or a girl. The first thing I did was to trim around the eyes. It was unable to see and this could have been part of the reason that it pecked so hard at my hand. The comb was wider than younger females but at four months female silkie’s combs begin to grow. At four months they should be showing on a male. ![]() I begin to see them as young as two months old as small red dots. This bird had just the slightest suggestion of the outline of a wattle. Again, females will develop very small wattles as they grow towards maturity. The crest of this bird had a definite pom pom shape. Because I didn’t see this bird when it was younger, I don’t know if it went through any Elvis type crest that some males have beginning at two months. I looked at the back of the head to check for “streamer” development. Nothing so far, but there are new feathers coming in right at the spot that could later develop into streamers. Next I looked at the hackle feathers on the neck. Males should have longer hackle feathers than the females at this point. I did not have another to compare it with but they looked shorter and more female to me. The wings on the bird looked long, especially the primaries. They also seem to be hard or stiff – not shreddy. Just because they seem large, it makes me think male. I also think that this is a male characteristic. Females often have their tail down in a more submissive position. This silkie has large feet and massive foot feathering. Females foot feathering are more in proportion to the rest of its body. Foot feathering depends on breeding but males will have larger feet. Boys stand up taller than girls as a rule and there is more room between the tail and the bottom of the feet.īehavior is hard to tell since I didn’t see how it developed. It seems very docile once its eye feathers were trimmed. It is currently alone so I can’t see how it interacts with others. If you placed it with another male, they may begin to fight even at this young age. Males at four months are often crowing especially first thing in the morning. ![]() This bird only made soft clucking sounds like a hen would make. It did not struggle when you picked it up and did not make grunting sounds like a male may make.
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