# sexing chicks



## taoga (Oct 28, 2012)

I am.picking up silkie chicks 1 1/2 months old. Any way to figure out if I am getting hens not roosters at that age?


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Roos will have larger combs than the females of the same age.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

taoga said:


> I am.picking up silkie chicks 1 1/2 months old. Any way to figure out if I am getting hens not roosters at that age?


Silkies are kinda funny. You almost nearly have to wAit until they start crowing. Sometimes little boys have a more brave attitude, which I can tell my cockerels by. I'd say I'm about 90% sexing by attitude by attitude.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

Does anyone know about pin feathers? I know I have read where people can by length and pattern of the pin feathers. Does anyone know this to be true?


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## farmeratomswife (Mar 30, 2013)

We've had a very frustrating year with silkie chicks. We bought 5 of them from a breeder here in town & she said they were all females. (We got them when they were about a week old.). Well 4 out of 5 turned out to be roosters. Two of them didn't start crowing until they were 5 months old!! She did have a guarantee so we were able to swap them out but man it was frustrating! :-/


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

Dani-1995 said:


> Does anyone know about pin feathers? I know I have read where people can by length and pattern of the pin feathers. Does anyone know this to be true?


Absolutely true-for certain breeds. They're called auto-sex breeds or feather sex breeds. A lot of the newer breeds do not have this capability. This is usually done once they're dried off and fluffy. Only for the first 3 days or so. Another way I know of is watching for hackle feather development in the slightly older chicks. The feathers around the neck come to a different shape at the end.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

Do you know which breeds they are? I have leghorns, RIR which I know are pullets since they came from a hatchery with a guarantee and I also have 2 black sexlink/bantam crosses and a some type of red sexlink cross.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

Dani-1995 said:


> Do you know which breeds they are? I have leghorns, RIR which I know are pullets since they came from a hatchery with a guarantee and I also have 2 black sexlink/bantam crosses and a some type of red sexlink cross.


Wyandottes, RIR , barred and cuckoo colors, NHR, really if depends on the breed heritage. A fast feathering bird must be crossed with a slow feathered. Like take a Ancona, Minorca, Andalusian, leghorn, or campine and breed him to a brahma, Cochin, Orpington, Sussex, australorp, Wyandotte, RIR, NHR, barred, or Delaware. There are probably other breeds used to cross too though.


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