Silkie cockerel?

[jewelg]

Hello, Chicken Friends!
We have two silkies in our flock and think the white one is male, but would love your opinion. Cupid is just over 12 weeks old. Stature is more upright and puffier in the head fluff and tail than Blue (our grey silkie), and behavior is usually more daring, but not as bossy to the younger birds. Blue has that more oval boat-shape that that is used to describe silkie hens, and Cupid does not. Cupid (the white one we think is male) seems to peck to remind the other chickens who’s boss while it seems like Blue (the grey one) pecks out of fear or overwhelm... our flock is still newly integrated between the two 12-week old silkies and the six 6-week old standard-sizes chicks. Thank you!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Cupid is beautiful! I agree his stance is more roo like. Your photos are gorgeous, but I can not see a good close up of his comb. He should be developing one by this age, but can be well hidden under his feathers. One of the photos I see a wider comb space. So based on what I am seeing I am going with boy, but I will tag @SoftSilkie and @LynnaePB to get some input!

 

[LynnaePB]

Hmmm I'm not seeing much comb growth or any streamers on Cupid. Stance isn't especially pullet like but boy have I had some little girls that were terrors and acted just like aggressive little males. Sparing with the actual male chicks daily, attacking my hand when I changed out food/water etc. At the time I was sure they were male....I've since learned behavior and stance alone without other supporting factors is not a great indicator of gender.

I'm thinking you may possibly have two little pullets there. Cupid may just be more dominant. She doesn't sound too bad, much better than my little terrors (luckily for me they usually grow out of it).

It could also be that cupid is a slow developing cockerel. My bet is still on Cupid being a little pullet though despite having a bit of a wider comb base.

 

[jewelg]

Cupid is beautiful! I agree his stance is more roo like. Your photos are gorgeous, but I can not see a good close up of his comb. He should be developing one by this age, but can be well hidden under his feathers. One of the photos I see a wider comb space. So based on what I am seeing I am going with boy, but I will tag @SoftSilkie and @LynnaePB to get some input!

Thanks, @jmns - I’ll try to get a close up of the comb, but will need a second set of hands

 

[jewelg]

Hmmm I'm not seeing much comb growth or any streamers on Cupid. Stance isn't especially pullet like but boy have I had some little girls that were terrors and acted just like aggressive little males. Sparing with the actual male chicks daily, attacking my hand when I changed out food/water etc. At the time I was sure they were male....I've since learned behavior and stance alone without other supporting factors is not a great indicator of gender.

I'm thinking you may possibly have two little pullets there. Cupid may just be more dominant. She doesn't sound too bad, much better than my little terrors (luckily for me they usually grow out of it).

It could also be that cupid is a slow developing cockerel. My bet is still on Cupid being a little pullet though despite having a bit of a wider comb base.

Thanks, @LynnaePB - These are our first chickens, so I don’t have much to go on, but Cupid doesn’t seem aggressive, especially based on what you’ve experienced with some birds. I really appreciate you and our other silkie folks taking a look. Fingers crossed!

 

[mandymcg05]

I think with silkies the things to look out for are the streamers from the head and the comb and wattles. Otherwise wait for an egg or crow lol. I have some silkies that are a few months old now and I’m I’m just now able to tell with out a doubt what sex they are And some of the females are just as cray as the boys. Lol

if you can tell a little in these pics, Ozzy is the female (I think) she’s the orange looking one. And Motley is my boy. His comb and wattles are RED now. And he’s got the streamers coming from his head. Ozzy has a perfect round shaped poof on her head too. Minus my bad trim job lol

This baby was my Big Mama but she just started the streamers and I think her comb is reddening you so only time will tell I’m going to hold out hope because she’s been taking care of my baby silks for the past few weeks!! Like a straight up mama hen!!

 

[jewelg]

I think with silkies the things to look out for are the streamers from the head and the comb and wattles. Otherwise wait for an egg or crow lol. I have some silkies that are a few months old now and I’m I’m just now able to tell with out a doubt what sex they are And some of the females are just as cray as the boys. Lol

View attachment 2318475View attachment 2318476View attachment 2318477

if you can tell a little in these pics, Ozzy is the female (I think) she’s the orange looking one. And Motley is my boy. His comb and wattles are RED now. And he’s got the streamers coming from his head. Ozzy has a perfect round shaped poof on her head too. Minus my bad trim job lol

This baby was my Big Mama but she just started the streamers and I think her comb is reddening you so only time will tell I’m going to hold out hope because she’s been taking care of my baby silks for the past few weeks!! Like a straight up mama hen!!

View attachment 2318479View attachment 2318480

I love your big girl! She looks like a loopy aunt - you know, your kind of crazy doofy one who totally marches to the beat of her own drum and has a fabulous time doing it and brings you along for the fun! Fingers crossed!

 

[jewelg]

Hello, Chicken Friends!
We have two silkies in our flock and think the white one is male, but would love your opinion. Cupid is just over 12 weeks old. Stature is more upright and puffier in the head fluff and tail than Blue (our grey silkie), and behavior is usually more daring, but not as bossy to the younger birds. Blue has that more oval boat-shape that that is used to describe silkie hens, and Cupid does not. Cupid (the white one we think is male) seems to peck to remind the other chickens who’s boss while it seems like Blue (the grey one) pecks out of fear or overwhelm... our flock is still newly integrated between the two 12-week old silkies and the six 6-week old standard-sizes chicks. Thank you!

Cupid is beautiful! I agree his stance is more roo like. Your photos are gorgeous, but I can not see a good close up of his comb. He should be developing one by this age, but can be well hidden under his feathers. One of the photos I see a wider comb space. So based on what I am seeing I am going with boy, but I will tag @SoftSilkie and @LynnaePB to get some input!

@LynnaePB and @jmns- maybe all these pics are overkill, but I hope they help- hard to get exactly in focus- first closeup selfie

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I don’t know you guys… I’m still thinking boy. Silkies are so difficult to gender ID and they can fool you
My silky roo based on the criteria that most people use would think was a girl at three months of age. I also have a silkie pullet that has signs of streamers. I was so confused about mine that I finally sent them all for gender ID testing with feather samples. Cost about $13 a bird. Or you can just wait and see who crows or who lays an egg!

 

[LynnaePB]

@LynnaePB and @jmns- maybe all these pics are overkill, but I hope they help- hard to get exactly in focus- first closeup selfie

Those are some great shots!

I'm still going to go with guessing pullet. She does have a fairly wide comb but I'm really not seeing development on it. If Cupid is a cockerel than he would be a very slow developing one.