# Still hopeful!!!



## lttdoming

20 week old silkie and I'm still holding out hope for a girl! I did some research and found she was hatched on June 12th
A few weeks ago someone suggested he may be a roo. A brother hatched the same day has a fully developed face and is beginning to crow. Nothing from this one.

Fingers crossed!


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## 7chicks

My goodness, what a beauty! Looks like a hen to me but I'm not exactly experienced in silkies. Very beautiful breed!


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## Apyl

Looks like a hen . BUT that can always change (hopefully it doesn't) . I had a black silkie I swore was a rooster but turned out to be a hen lol.


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## Courage

In my opinion, definitely a hen. 20 weeks old she should start laying soon, and if not and she starts to crow, you have your answer!


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## robin416

A better complete side shot will help determine what sex. But, I too am leaning towards female. 

LOL Apyl, I tried to sell my paint Chicklett as a cockeral at six months. By 8 months she laid her first eggs and has been a mom twice now.


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## avis67

I would say hen, whoever said that she was a rooster could have been talking about the redness in the comb or the swept back crest. A lot of hatchery Silkies will have reddish combs so comb redness isn't a definite way to sex them. I have a Silkie who is around laying age ( she hasn't started yet) who also had a swept back looking crest which made her look like a rooster when she was younger, but overall your Silkie pullet's feathers look short and comb is small which would most f the time indicate a pullet.


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## walnut27

I would say hen very cute!


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## realsis

She/he is very adorable!! And very pretty.i just love white silkies!!As for the sex in my opinion I think this bird looks rooish. I also raise silkies and something about the crest seems rooish. It sweeps toward the back instead of being perfectly round. Usually very very early on females will have a VERY round crest. I'll attach a picture of my DNA sexed confirmed female. She is ONLY 8 weeks old yet you will notice her crest. Next pic will be of my 5 week confirmed female notice the crest. I could be wrong here but I'm thinking its a male. Silkies can be sneeky through and suprise you but for some reason I'm thinking its a roo. Because of the crest. See in the pictures of these babies how round the crest is already??
Also I thought I seen steamers coming. Like I said I could be wrong but my vote is roo. let us know which way it goes. The comb looks a bit large too for female but silkies are sneeky and so difficult to sex. I get mine sex tested because they are so difficult and I can't have roosters. But I agree with the person who said it looks rooish... Please tell us which way it ends up. Like above poster said hatchery silkies can be different though. They don't necessarily have large crests so I could be wrong. We will just have to wait And see.


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## Courage

realsis said:


> She/he is very adorable!! And very pretty.i just love white silkies!!As for the sex in my opinion I think this bird looks rooish. I also raise silkies and something about the crest seems rooish. It sweeps toward the back instead of being perfectly round. Usually very very early on females will have a VERY round crest. I'll attach a picture of my DNA sexed confirmed female. She is ONLY 8 weeks old yet you will notice her crest. Next pic will be of my 5 week confirmed female notice the crest. I could be wrong here but I'm thinking its a male. Silkies can be sneeky through and suprise you but for some reason I'm thinking its a roo. Because of the crest. See in the pictures of these babies how round the crest is already??
> Also I thought I seen steamers coming. Like I said I could be wrong but my vote is roo. let us know which way it goes. The comb looks a bit large too for female but silkies are sneeky and so difficult to sex. I get mine sex tested because they are so difficult and I can't have roosters. But I agree with the person who said it looks rooish... Please tell us which way it ends up. Like above poster said hatchery silkies can be different though. They don't necessarily have large crests so I could be wrong. We will just have to wait And see.
> View attachment 13339
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> View attachment 13340


The look of the crest could just be from that breeding strain, but it would interesting if your theory worked!

You mentioned sex testing - how do you get that done?


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## realsis

I use dna feather sexing when they are babies
I found a lab that does the testing for 10 dollars a sample.its very simple. You will pluck a few feathers from the chest area with tweasers. You lable each packet or envelope according to the bird it came from. I tested several buffs so I used colored leg bands to identity each bird. I wrote on each envelope as a example buff green or buff blue that would mean the bird with the green or blue leg bands. Once all samples are taken labled and put into seprate envelopes you put all the envelopes intro a bigger envelope and send off to the lab for testing. Once they recieve the samples it takes about two days for the results. Remember how you identified each envelope matching leg band colors? The results come the same way. Example buff green female meaning the buff with the green leg band is female this way there is no chance for confusion or mix up. the lab I use is called Accu-metrics. Its in canada but serves world wide. It is completely accurate as blood to use the feathers because the cells or DNA is extracted from the quill of the Feather. I choose feather testing over blood testing because its easier on the babies and just as accurate.egg shells can also be used. Its a very simple procedure and extremely accurate. Basically you pluck the feathers and send them off. Make sure you do each sample seprately and lable them accordingly use a system like the colored leg bands to identify. I pluck three feathers off each bird incase a feather gets fouled this way they have a back up feather or can choose the best one. That's all there is to it. I do dna testing on all my silkies. I can't keep roosters so this method is very helpful. A couple years back I found myself re homing several roos which was heart breaking and not easy to do.i did some research and found DNA testing. It was suprisingly affordable and a lot easier than re homing roosters. from then on I've used it to identity my females. If I'm buying babies from a breeder I'll explain the process and pay for testing. the breeders have been happy to go along with it because they benifit as well knowing they have males. The breeders then send me the female birds and keep the unwanted males to sell as straight run. This had worked out very well for both the breeder and myself knowing early on who is male. I Absoultly can't have roosters so after my rooster adventure this is the way I buy. Hope this helps you out. hope I answered your question


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## Courage

Ok, thanks! I'll look into that and see if I can find somewhere around here that can do that for me! That's neat!


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## lttdoming

Well at 7 months 2 days question answered.....


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## jeanne

Good girl

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