BO x Speckled Sussex chicks 3 weeks old, is one a cockerel?

[tviss711]

We hatched 6 eggs from our flock after they were taken out by neighbor dogs. 4/6 were BO x SL Wyandotte and were sex linked (3 were boys, 1 was a girl, one didn’t hatch and was a girl of course!)

2 were BO x speckled Sussex. I was hoping both are female so I can keep as many as possible. I’m suspicious of one of them. I know it is early. What do you guys think? One of their combs is slightly bigger and the wattles seem more pronounced. But it’s not any larger than the other. We’ve been calling this one Chili but I’m thinking she may be a cockerel after all

Compared to sister Cayenne

They’re both feathering out around the same rate, both are slower than the Wyandottes but other than the comb thing they look the same.

If she’s a cockerel that’s 4 out of 6. Which is a bummer but that’s the way it goes with hatching. I had one that made it to lockdown, but ruptured her yolk sac when positioning and died before she could pip. She was a confirmed female(another Wyandotte female) so that was a bummer!

 

[Slothinc]

Aren’t they just so cute!!! Remind me how old they are - Im guessing about 2-3 weeks? I would take a total guess and say that Chili might be a boy, just because the comb/wattle development do look quite suspicious. But it is hard to tell for sure at this point! That is such a bummer if you only end up with two girls. I had a hatch last year that was 9 chicks and of the 9, only ONE was a girl! Haha I was so frustrated

 

[tviss711]

Aren’t they just so cute!!! Remind me how old they are - Im guessing about 2-3 weeks? I would take a total guess and say that Chili might be a boy, just because the comb/wattle development do look quite suspicious. But it is hard to tell for sure at this point! That is such a bummer if you only end up with two girls. I had a hatch last year that was 9 chicks and of the 9, only ONE was a girl! Haha I was so frustrated

Yes they are about 3 weeks! and I know!! Of course its technically 50/50, but it always seems to lean more to the cockerel side! I absolutely loved hatching them out instead of ordering or buying because the process is so rewarding, and its especially hard because these are the only remnant I'll get to ever have of my first flock. I sure hope Chili is just a quickly developing female, but I am quite suspicious. I will be able to keep at least one of the roos, and I will be purchasing more pullets this weekend, but deciding which of the 4 roos to keep (and of course I love them all) is a little heart breaking!

 

[Zenmonkey]

Any chance for an update? With another month's growth, it might be easier to tell.

 

[tviss711]

Any chance for an update? With another month's growth, it might be easier to tell.

Late to the game on this but they were both cockerels! I ended up rehoming them together which was nice.