Yet another chick sexing thread

[RedhedINgrl]

While Im not new to having chickens, this is my first time with chicks. I have 20-30 chicks currently. Buff Orps,barred Rock,light, brahma, black Jersey, RIR, EE, Isa B and SL Wyandotte (The variety pack I know ) Anyway I spend over an hour everyday observing them and I have noticed some very distinct differences in them. With all I have read/ seen on this forum about sexing chicks Im wondering if anyone else has observed their own chicks and been accurate to their sex at less than 2 weeks old. Pullets tend to feather much faster correct? And usually from the shoulders and wings right? My thinking here is that by 10days or so it seems very obvious to me what is a roo and whats a pullet. Pullets should have longer wings an tail feathers, while roo's will have stubby wings and very little tail feathers. If this is right than why couldn't a trained eye notice this? Would certainly take the waiting game off the table lol. Im very interested to hear what "Senior" Chick folks think on this matter.

 

[Chick Charm]

A good way to test your intuition is to tag all the ones you think are boys and girls at 10 days old and see what the outcome truly is. Clear data is a good barometer.

EE for me are VERY difficult to sex. Barred Rocks start showing signs at 4 to 5 weeks for me. RIR feather growth is overstated in girls in my opinion.

I have been right on sexing at an early age and I have also been wrong many times. I don't usually feel to bad as the professionals that sex chicks operate around 80% accurate. I still love trying.

Wish ya the best.

 

[RedhedINgrl]

I have chicks with Pink dots an chicks with Blue lol I have seen a lot of threads on Barred rocks being sexed early by head spots legs and overall coloring. Without putting a lot of stock on those I also looked at the wings and tails. If its true than I have 1 pullet and 4 roos. It will be fun to find out!

 

[KieksterChicken]

Maybe blue and pink leg bands will work better than dots in the long run..lol. As soon as they learn the "dot" routine and see you getting near them they will think.."It's the crazy person with the pink and red sticks! Run!" Sounds like a fun project to guess sexes with blue and pink dots..lol. Oops..meant pink and blue..oh well..my fault for cruising the forum when it's 2 hours past my bed time..lol!

 

[RedhedINgrl]

Yep the dots wore off too fast so masking tape bands are the trick So far they are holding up better. Im still confident in my guesses...for now lol

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

In my experience, going by rate of feathering has been pretty inaccurate. I think that works really well for some breeds, and not at all for others. Last year it was my pullets who remained practically naked until well after the Roos. I have much better luck with leg thickness. I can usually tell at least a few of the roos that way within a week or two. Generally, I find that if you start to suspect you have a roo, it will turn out that you probably do. Sort of a pullet until proven guilty approach. I keep detailed records of my hatches. I mark males as I confirm them. I never write "female" on the list until at least 12-14 weeks. I've had too many late surprises. But most of my chickens are pea comb breeds, so it's a little trickier to tell sometimes.