Sexing: Roosters vs Hens

My experience: I have sexed 6 Silkies from a young age (I always got a second opinion from more experience also). Some are really obvious what they are going to be and some you will just have to wait for conformation. 

One of my first black silkie chick where so obvious that she was a girl already at 6 weeks. She was tiny, round in shape and the crest was already round even tho they still where pin feathers. 

About a year later I hatched some chicks. To go thrue the experience. Two of them where obvious rooster early and later on.Then there was my girl Azrael. She had no of the obvious sign of being a hen for the longest time. She is big for being a hen, she has VERY fluffy feat (I call them snowshoes!) and she had a very small crest for being a girl. As young I was told that she looked like a obvious rooster, but I had a gut feeling to just wait a bit longer to see. I was right she started to look more and more like a hen in the posture and no rooster signs as the hackle feathers and streamers did not show up. I did not want to get my hopes up so I waited for conformation and one day Bartholomew was helping her in the nestboxes to lay her first egg.Turned out she only needed a molt to get that poofy crest.
When did I know my roosters where roosters for sure?

• For Pete I knew for sure when the hackle feathers came. He started crowing early at 16 weeks and his comb came around week 20.
• Bartholomew I bought as a sexed rooster but got told all the time that he looked "girly". His crow came at week 17.
• For Gigi we still had doubts for the longest time. He looked really girly for the longest. He fooled many with girly looks. He had tho very standing up posture which got me thinking early, but they the streamers started to pop and week 20 his first crow came and comb around week 25.
  

When did my hens start laying?on avrage my hens have started around week 28 with Bartok being an expection at week 25 and Felicia at week 38.

Silkies are one of the hardest chicken breeds to sex. This is due to that they mature slower than other breeds.

Many use the sentence "wait for an crow or an egg, this is the only way you will know". I usally tell people who get silkie chicks, go with your gut feeling , when they wait for conformation.

To explain how to sex you silkies Im going write down some notes how to tell the diffrence between a boy and a girl Silkie:

• CREST: Hens have a more round crest, while the roosters does more look like they have a mullet from the 80s. This is due to the roosters devolp whats known as streamers.
• COMB: The Silkie hen basicly only have a slight bump as a comb. Some hens tho do get mistaken as rooster due to bigger combs (This is normal and a variationen to the indivudal) The Rooster have whats known as the mullberry comb. This is basicly a big brain looking thing, with a purple color. (while the hens mostly have the same color as their skin).
• NECK FEATHERS: The rooster devolp whats known as hackle feathers. This basicly look like a mane on the rooster. They are more pointy in the edges. While the hens are more straight in the edges and look like normal feathers.
• FEATHERY FEET: The rooster will have more and longer feathers on their feet. While the hens are basicly just fluffy.
  IMPORTANT NOTE: The feathery feet can appear on hens also (genetics), but its less common. The roosters also have bigger feet, while most hens have tiny.
• POSTURE: The hens have a more of a round form and stands closer to the ground. The rooster will have a more standing posture, similar to the Trex.

If you know what to look for you can start seeing sex around week 8 and forward (but some can take 1 year).
When can you start seeing the signs?

• CROW: On average they crow around week 15. (Some have had baby silkie rooster already crowing at week 3.)
• STREAMERS: Also pops up on average around week 12-15. They startout basicly as just longer crest hairs.
• HACKLE FEATHERS: This is the first sign I have seen on my roosters. They are easy to compare if you have a hen to compare too.
• EGG: On avrage a Silkie lays egg around week 25, but it does vary alot from hen to hen. (Some girls can take a year!)
• GUTFEELING SIGNS: None of these are a conformation on sex but it can start the guessing game. As baby chicks the roosters will most often have the more standing posture already, they will also be bigger. Some baby roosters will already have the bigger and feathery feet. When the baby chicks start devolp crests. On some hens you can already see the more round shape.