For game fowl: Can you tell a chick's gender by plumage color?

[sdm111]

About 3wks to a mo. Or so old

 

[centrarchid]

Brown red pullets coming into first breast feathers at about 3 weeks will appear black. Same with nearly all black birds such as Warhorse.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I had a strain of black game fowl once that every feather, piece of fluff, and leg scale was as black as coal. Even a cross or hybrid made using this strain was always black down to just 1/64ths part of the black blood, regardless if the chick was a cockerel or a pullet.

The only way I am aware of to use feather color to reliably sex young chickens is to breed specialty selected inbred blood lines to produce a bird like the Black, Red, or Golden Sex link chickens. Even that trick doesn't work with the 2nd generation and your birds are back to color chaos.

 

[centrarchid]

I had a strain of black game fowl once that every feather, piece of fluff, and leg scale was as black as coal.  Even a cross or hybrid made using this strain was always black down to just 1/64ths part of the black blood, regardless if the chick was a cockerel or a pullet.

The only way I am aware of to use feather color to reliably sex young chickens is to breed specialty selected inbred blood lines to produce a bird like the Black, Red, or Golden Sex link chickens.  Even that trick doesn't work with the 2nd generation and your birds are back to color chaos.

Even with outbred birds you can often deduce genetics of individuals enough to occasionally use markers for determining sex. Best example I know is with a grey hen bred to a cock that is not grey. Barred hens like crele work same way.