Hens or cocks?

[Mummytomany]

Hi

Any tips on sexing day old chicks (don’t know if it is even possible). Just curiosity rather than anything else

Here are a few pics of them and my goodness aren’t they sweet (also any ideas on what colour these will be as adults?) - I had to get some fertile eggs for my broody chicken as we don’t have a cockerel currently.

Thanks

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Beyond vent sexing, which should only be done by a trained individual as you can damage them if you have no experience, there's mostly old wives tales and guessing.

Most can be sexed by comb development by 5-8 weeks. So post some more pictures when they get a bit older.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Any tips on sexing day old chicks

As mentioned, vent sexing but leave that to the professionals. They get that wrong 5% to 10% of the time anyway and most don't bother trying to do bantams. Too small.

There are certain sex linked traits that can be used to sex chicks if the parents are set up right genetically. The very first post in this very long linked thread describes three of those methods. There are a few other traits that can be used other than the three mentioned. There are also a lot of myths about this that don't work but those myths will never go away.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sex-linked-information.261208/

There are certain breeds that are autosexing. You can tell sex at hatch, generally by differences in colors or some markings. The Cream Legbar is the best known of these but there are several others.

Sometimes you can get a pretty good guess with barred breeds like Barred Rock. The boys have two copies of the barring gene while the girls only have one copy. That can make the boys lighter in color when they feather out. With some it is pretty obvious but with some not so much. Often by the time you can see this difference you can tell by other means.

But all that does not apply to the vast majority of our chicks. In general you cannot tell the sex of our chicks until they develop certain looks or traits. Males tend to be bolder and more curious, they often come out to meet you while the girls hang back. Boys develop combs and wattles faster and these become red at a younger age. Boys have a more upright posture than girls and tend to have thicker legs. On very rare occasions I can look at a chick shortly after hatch and say with confidence that it is a boy. It's really hard to get that confidence with the girls. With most chicks these differences start showing up around 5 weeks of age. To me single combed chicks are easier than chicks with a pea or rose comb. Thick feathered breeds like Orpington and Cochin are harder.

This does not mean I can always tell at five weeks. I remember one that I thought was a girl until it was about 15 weeks old. It does get easier with practice.