My chicken is utterly confused about their gender.

[ChickenMama4667]

Did you ever watch the silkie lay an egg? If not I would be inclined to think the egg came from elsewhere. Oh when you take pics of the silkie’s comb, will you get a picture of the spurs as well?

Spurs, crowing and mating all strongly suggest male.

I will be sure to do that i will also see if i can get pic of the small white eggs as well. I didn't watch the silkie lay the eggs. But, I'm not sure where else they would come from?

 

[Slothinc]

I will be sure to do that i will also see if i can get pic of the small white eggs as well. I didn't watch the silkie lay the eggs. But, I'm not sure where else they would come from?

What are the breeds of your other hens and are they all older (have they all been laying for a long time?)

 

[Debbie292d]

I got 2 baby chicks a while ago a naked neck turken and a silkie and I thought they were girls but the naked neck turned out to be just a late bloomer and is now showing lots of signs of being a rooster. But the other one is a silkie and has been acting like a hen and laying eggs up till just recently it started crowing and trying to mate with my hens. I noticed she has started being more aggressive towards the other hens as well. The rooster and the silkie are best friends they are always together. The silkie's posture has also changed from a normal hen stance to puffing her chest out and she stands tall. If it helps any she also has large spurs. I haven't noticed any small white eggs in the nest box recently. I think she might have changed her gender but I'm not sure. The rooster doesn't try to mate with the silkie which I thought might just be because they were raised together but it would make sense if she has changed gender that he wouldn't mate with her. Please share your thoughts I'm desperately trying to get an answer to this perplexing situation.

Silkies are hard enough to sex with pictures.

I have some that have changed gender on me, too. I think most silkie raisers/breeders do. That said, one laying eggs doesn't just stop and become a rooster. Nor do any pure silkie hens have spurs. Many of my roosters don't even have spurs.

These sound so interesting. You just have to post some pictures for us.

 

[ChickenMama4667]

What are the breeds of your other hens and are they all older (have they all been laying for a long time?)

I have production red, olive egger, sapphire gem, black sex link, red sex link, buff Orrington, chocolate Orrington, silver duckwing old game bantam, partridge cochin bantam, Delaware white, smoky pearl, barred rock, Plymouth barred rock, silver laced Wyandotte, ISA brown, and light brahma. Most are 2 years old.

 

[JedJackson]

It's either a hen whose ovary was damaged at some point after she started laying, or it was always a cockerel and someone else was laying the small white eggs. Those are the two options.

An old English game bantam will lay small white eggs, and not many of them, so it could have been her. But the masculine behavior after ovary damage isn't all that uncommon. You may never know which of the two scenarios happened, with certainty.

 

[Slothinc]

It's either a hen whose ovary was damaged at some point after she started laying, or it was always a cockerel and someone else was laying the small white eggs. Those are the two options.

An old English game bantam will lay small white eggs, and not many of them, so it could have been her. But the masculine behavior after ovary damage isn't all that uncommon. You may never know which of the two scenarios happened, with certainty.

I was thinking maybe the OEGB could be the culprit.

At this point, if she ever gets another little white egg, is it likely that the silkie never laid?

(If it was a case of a damaged ovary, the silkie would never lay again right?)

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I don't have silkies, but I have hens of other breeds that have spurs, and have had others that have had spurs.

If your silkie is a hen and has laid eggs, she will never "change genders" and become a rooster, but as another poster stated, she could be suffering the results of damage to her one ovary that would cause her to take on the characteristics of a male, as she now has a hormonal imbalance. She's still a hen and always will be, just a faulty one.

 

[ChickenMama4667]

I didn't get very good pics of the silkie but here they are.

 

[Slothinc]

I didn't get very good pics of the silkie but here they are.
View attachment 4071996View attachment 4071997

Those are better pictures - I would say with near certainty that you have a silkie cockerel. His comb is larger than any silkie pullet I have ever had, and you can see the head streamers much better from this angle. That, combined with his behavior says to me that he’s a rooster and the eggs came from elsewhere - most likely the OEGB!

 

[ChickenMama4667]

Thank you all for the helpful info!