Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Frothgar on July 15, 2010, 10:24
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Hi, sorry to be a bother again....
We've just got our three Silkies and they seem to be settling in fine. The only trouble is - we are not sure if we have any males (we are not allowed to have cockerels in our area). The man ('Chickiepops'!), said that they are 3-weeks old and therefore cannot be sexed and we would have to wait until they are a year old to see if any of them crow!
I'm sure he's wrong on that point as I've read that females start laying at about 24 weeks, but I am not sure how to sex them, or at what age this is possible... can anyone help please?
He did say that we can return any males to swap them for females later, so that shouldn't be a problem... we just don't want to get attached to one that has to be returned :(.
Also, could anyone tell us how much ACV to add to their water, and at what age should we make grit available to them? (we've got Belgian 'Antwerp Natural Grit' is that o.k.? - it's got a picture of a pigeon on it :unsure:). Thanks for any feedback.
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Hi Frothgar, silkies are notoriously difficult to sex, well at least they are for me! :D My chicks are now 10-11 weeks old and I still can't tell what they are, but I think a year is a bit long, like you say the pullets should start to lay from 24 weeks on, my older girl started at about 30 weeks. But if you do have a cockerel, he should start to crow earlier than that.
The 3 I've got left all 'look' like girls, but that doesn't mean a thing! I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while longer, trying not to get too attached to them yet. sorry can't be more positive!