How can you tell gender of 4 month old silkies?

Answer 1

If the bantams are free range and over 5 months old the easiest way to tell is to toss a soft object (frisbee) over the birds in the yard and watch.

The males (roosters) will go on alert, heads up looking for danger and making a keening sound warning the females (hens).

The hens will crouch down and stay still and quiet as this is how they defend themselves from predators.

If you cannot do this, then look for the start of spurs on the legs of the birds, those with spur nubs are males. Look at the size of the combs and wattles, this can give a good indication with most breeds, males larger and brighter.

Answer 2

Rooster usually has larger pointed hackle feathers and tail feathers, larger comb, taller leg, more slicked back crest,larger comb.

Hen has a puffier crest, stockier body

They sound different

Hen may have a wider space between vent bones

Answer 3

From what I have researched, it is very hard to tell the gender of a silkie. I heard that pullets have flatter combs than roosters. Also, the females tend to have a "pom pom hairdo" on their heads, and the males have a "rock star spikey hair".

The roosters also grow blue earlobes, a large comb and big wattles. These are visable earlier on roosters than on hens. Also, silkie roosters crow when they are quite young

Answer 4

Roosters tend to get larger wattles and combs. They will be more of a bright red color, also. The hens combs will be more of a pinkish like when they were chicks. Of course, the roosters will start crowing soon. Mine started crowing one morning--I thought they were fighting--I heard some terrible squawking--The two roosters were talking--they just couldn't say the "doo" part of the cockadoodledoo.

Answer 5

At 4 months old, you can try to distinguish male and female Silkies by looking at their comb and wattle size - males usually have larger and more prominent combs and wattles. Additionally, male Silkies may start to exhibit more crowing behavior compared to females. However, for more accurate gender identification, waiting until they are older or seeing secondary sexual characteristics such as behavior and feathering would be more reliable.