Splash Orpington- Male or Female

[kelsfarm]

Hi all!

I really wanted a splash Orpington in my new bunch of chicks! I am wondering: Male or Female? This one came out of a straight run batch. Hoping for female!

 

[cherrynberry]

WAY too young to sex. Update in 6-8 weeks with comb, side profile, and full body pictures.

 

[kelsfarm]

WAY too young to sex. Update in 6-8 weeks with comb, side profile, and full body pictures.

I am so new to this so my question is: how come some chicks already came sexed as females and there are some that are just straight run? Are some breeds harder to tell?

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Not wing sexable, Way too young to tell in any other way.

 

[Skyle]

I am so new to this so my question is: how come some chicks already came sexed as females and there are some that are just straight run? Are some breeds harder to tell?

Some hybrids (red sexlink, for example) or even breeds (cream Legbar) are born just to have chicks sexable at hatch by their colour, male chicks and female chicks have different colours.
Some other hybrids (some cornish crosses, for example), which males and females are identical in color, are sexable by the wing feather thing, but just because they are bred specifically for this.
Hatcheries also have some experts (it takes years to learn how to do this properly, don't try it at home or you might hurt the chicks) that vent sex the chicks when they are less than 24 hours old, this is usually done with breeds that aren't sexable in any other way.

1st reason because some chicks come straight run and other sexed: Bantams are too small to be vent sexed so they come only straight run.

2nd reason: some smaller hatcheries don't have the experts which can sex the chicks, so they just sell them straight run (except the breeds which are wing or color sexable)

3rd reason: some hatcheries keep the option "straight run" even if they can also sex the chicks of that breed because straight run chicks are cheapier than females and some people prefer these chicks because of this and/or because they have no problems getting cockerels (no laws against/they do butcher them/they have also a pen only for males)

4th reason (this is just a my guess though): some breeds/colors are still pretty rare and there is a very high request for their chicks. Probably hatcheries can't currently hatch that many chicks to please all the requests, so they just sell these chicks straight run (if they would sell sexed chicks they would sell only about half the chicks because people would order mainly females)

 

[cherrynberry]

I am so new to this so my question is: how come some chicks already came sexed as females and there are some that are just straight run? Are some breeds harder to tell?

No, its because they are vent sexed professionally at a hatchery. Should NEVER be done by amateurs.

Some breeds cannot be vent sexed just to be safe. Your chick can, but again, should only be done by professionals. If we are sexing using pictures, its best to wait 6-8 weeks. Your bird is not sexable at hatch, which is possible in some breeds.

 

[kelsfarm]

Some hybrids (red sexlink, for example) or even breeds (cream Legbar) are born just to have chicks sexable at hatch by their colour, male chicks and female chicks have different colours.
Some other hybrids (some cornish crosses, for example), which males and females are identical in color, are sexable by the wing feather thing, but just because they are bred specifically for this.
Hatcheries also have some experts (it takes years to learn how to do this properly, don't try it at home or you might hurt the chicks) that vent sex the chicks when they are less than 24 hours old, this is usually done with breeds that aren't sexable in any other way.

1st reason because some chicks come straight run and other sexed: Bantams are too small to be vent sexed so they come only straight run.

2nd reason: some smaller hatcheries don't have the experts which can sex the chicks, so they just sell them straight run (except the breeds which are wing or color sexable)

3rd reason: some hatcheries keep the option "straight run" even if they can also sex the chicks of that breed because straight run chicks are cheapier than females and some people prefer these chicks because of this and/or because they have no problems getting cockerels (no laws against/they do butcher them/they have also a pen only for males)

4th reason (this is just a my guess though): some breeds/colors are still pretty rare and there is a very high request for their chicks. Probably hatcheries can't currently hatch that many chicks to please all the requests, so they just sell these chicks straight run (if they would sell sexed chicks they would sell only about half the chicks because people would order mainly females)

thank you and @Skyle for the detailed explanations! I will just wait and hope for a female. I just googled the vent sexing and you are right I am WAY too amateur to even think about doing that.

 

[kelsfarm]

Not wing sexable, Way too young to tell in any other way.

Are all Orpington not wing sexable?

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Are all Orpington not wing sexable?

Yes. Only specifically crossed hybrids are. It's an unfortunately widespread myth that wing sexing works on all chicks.