3 week old Speckled Sussex gender? UPDATE: 7 week old pics!

[Melabella]

Sorry,, this was supposed to go into the above post, I was doing it from my phone without my glasses! Here "IT" is....lol

Have at it peeps....11 and a half weeks old... Pullet or Roo????

MB

 

[A roo or two]

I say roo.

EDIT: Well now on my computer instead of my phone it does look more like a pullet.

 

[A roo or two]

I read and read and reread all these posts on trying to determine SS gender and I think my head is going to explode. So I thought I would post here where there seem to be some knowledgeable people helping out us newbies to the breed.

I know what I am leaning towards gender wise for each one but I want to see what everyone else thinks and see if you see something I am missing or didn't consider. I will include a body shot and head shot of each one. They are roughly 4 weeks old in these pics. Please keep in mind that they were "stretching" due to being separated from the rest of the flock.

Chick #1




Chick #2




Chick #3




Chick #4




chick #5




chick #6

 

[A roo or two]

I know this is an older thread but anyone with SS experience with guesses on my above post?

 

[Nwchickma]

I have no idea, sorry. Just wanted you to know you weren't being ignored

 

[A roo or two]

I have no idea, sorry. Just wanted you to know you weren't being ignored

Thank you

 

[sssharon]

I have no idea either but that is one absolutely cute chick. I have a speckled Sussex and to me she is the ugly duckling of chickens. I thought they were supposed to be pretty. She is only around 5 months old so maybe it's after her first molt that she gets pretty. I guess I'm superficial because I want a pretty chicken. Your's is really cute!

 

[A roo or two]

I have no idea either but that is one absolutely cute chick. I have a speckled Sussex and to me she is the ugly duckling of chickens. I thought they were supposed to be pretty. She is only around 5 months old so maybe it's after her first molt that she gets pretty. I guess I'm superficial because I want a pretty chicken. Your's is really cute!

Well these guys aren't show quality or anything so they have loads of white but I wanted color for my yard so I liked them. I was reading they get more white with every molt.

 

[Melabella]

Well these guys aren't show quality or anything so they have loads of white but I wanted color for my yard so I liked them. I was reading they get more white with every molt.

Hi there Roo or TWO!

First off... I'm no SS expert at all.. I ordered one chick from Meyer hatchery and I am the person who posted a picture right before you posted. My chick is now 14 weeks and I have to say I am 90% sure she is a pullet. YEAH! Since I posted the picture above.. her comb and wattles stayed the same. I think this is one very hard breed to sex. Being that she is a hatchery bird and not from show stock, all the classic SS marks for sexing seemed to change daily.. I swear.. My head was about to explode too!

In the beginning she has almost a completely white chest, but that has since grown in with the classic brown and white speckles. Her saddle feathers are very long but the coloring of the SS feathers actually look like they are pointy due to color patterns of the feathers but in actuality when I look at her feathers they are rounded at the edges. One of the biggest factors that kept me hopeful was her body shape. She definitely had more of the rectangular body shape that I had read about here that pullets tend to have as opposed to the rounder body shape of the cockrels. Her tail was also long, and black as opposed to the cockrels taking longer to come in.

so.. that brings us to the photos you posted.... My totally uneducated experience except for having just studied this for the last 14 weeks is....

First three are pullets,
and the last three are cockrels... maybe #4 pullet.

I know one thing is true... you won't be able to tell for a while longer, it was a pain in the butt to wait that out! I am thrilled with my pullet as I would have had to rehome if it was a roo. I have far too many to keep.

Keep us posted. Good Luck!

MB

ps... one more reason I am convinced she is a pullet is that I have started to integrate the small flock of girls she is with into the adult flock she will join up with. I have a black Ameraucana roo in that flock, and he has no problem or issue with this bird at all, where as he has all ready taken to attacking the 10 week old lavender Ameraucana cockrels in the same group. That is a definite sign of pullet!

 

[A roo or two]

Hi there Roo or TWO!  

First off... I'm no SS expert at all..  I ordered one chick from Meyer hatchery and I am the person who posted a picture right before you posted.  My chick is now 14 weeks and I have to say I am 90% sure she is a pullet.  YEAH!    Since I posted the picture  above.. her comb and wattles stayed the same.  I think this is one very hard breed to sex.  Being that she is a hatchery bird and not from show stock, all the classic SS marks for sexing seemed to change daily.. I swear.. My head was about to explode too! 

In the beginning she has almost a completely white chest, but that has since grown in with the classic brown and white speckles.  Her saddle feathers are very long but the coloring of the SS feathers actually look like they are pointy due to color patterns of the feathers but in actuality when I look at her feathers they are rounded at the edges.  One of the biggest factors that kept me hopeful was her body shape.  She definitely had more of the rectangular body shape that I had read about here that pullets tend to have as opposed to the rounder body shape of the cockrels.  Her tail was also long, and black as opposed to the cockrels taking longer to come in. 

so.. that brings us to the photos you posted.... My totally uneducated experience except for having just studied this for the last 14 weeks is....

First three are pullets,
and the last three are cockrels... maybe #4 pullet. 

I know one thing is true... you won't be able to tell for a while longer, it was a pain in the butt to wait that out!  I am thrilled with my pullet as I would have had to rehome if it was a roo.  I have far too many to keep.

Keep us  posted.  Good Luck!

MB

ps... one more reason I am convinced she is a pullet is that I have started to integrate the small flock of girls she is with into the adult flock she will  join up with.  I have a black Ameraucana roo in that flock, and he has no problem or issue with this bird at all, where as he has all ready taken to attacking the 10 week old lavender Ameraucana cockrels in the same group.  That is a definite sign of pullet!

Thanks for your reply. I too feel 1-3 are pullets and 4-6 are roos. I was hoping for a couple more girls but oh well lol. Now that I went back and looked at your chicken on my computer enlarged it does look like a pullet. This breed is a pain in the butt to sex lol. I hate the waiting game and getting attached to birds I can't keep. :/.