Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[katieD]

hi all

 

after some advise regarding silkies. ive always doubted that one of my 'girls' was a girl. s/he is now about 8 months and has s definate comb developing.

 

do both girls and boys get combs? my other one (definate girl) has none

 

thanks for your help

 

x

Edited December 16, 2009 by Guest

[batcatz]

Hi, my silkie has a small comb. She's a definate hen as she started laying eggs recently. Its the wattles and the way the feathers grow on the top of the head, neck and tail that gives it away if its a cockerel. Hens have puffball feathers on their head. Cockerel feathers sweep down from the head to the neck in a spikey way.

 

If you need a photo of a hen and cockerel let me know.

[Egluntyne]

Can you post photos of them?

[batcatz]

Hi, here's photos of my hen and cockerel who was rehomed. Hope this helps.

 

Silkie hen:

Just noticed how lovely my grass looks! Now its a patchy mud bath. lol.

 

Cockerel:

 

Both together:

[coco]

I have two silkie crosses, they both have tiny combs but are definately hens.

[SAB]

I once heard a really wise saying that you can only tell the sex of a silkie when it either crows or lays an egg as they are hard to sex and late to show their true identity. I speak as one who's beloved Gloria became Dave ! He was a feisty wee soul and really adorable but we were unable to keep him so he went off to be a stud (which suited him down to the ground no doubt as part of his constant crowing was due to the wee bantam soul never quite managing to get jiggy with our larger feathered ladies ).

[Griffin]

One of my Silkies is about 20 weeks old and I haven't got a clue what it is I'm usually pretty good at sexing Silkies but this one has me stumped. It's the friendliest of all my Silkies so I've got my fingers crossed because I don't want to have to part with it. It wouldn't surprise me if it is a boy though.

[katieD]

the named silkie is definately a girl! yay!

 

rather odd circumstances though that caused me to find out!!

 

let them out for free range time and saw she was straining alot- she has always had a wam fluid swelling between her legs which the vet adviced if she if fine in herself then to leave her and monitor.

 

so i thought it was something to do with that- so i picked her up and felt the swelling (which felt larger) then an egg fell out!!!

 

the swelling has reduced now back to its previous size- but do you think the swelling is going to cause her a problem laying all the time? im rather confused about it all now! and wondering if she will always have problems laying?

[Redwing]

I think only time will tell, first eggs are often tricky/erratic so only when things settle down will you know for sure