My chicks are about a week and a half old and are getting lots of feathers in. How old do they have to be before you can get a pretty good idea of sex?
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This doesn't happen until they are 3-5 months old.Yes, it will help us if you can tell us what breeds you have, and if they are large fowl (standard sized), or bantam (the miniature sized chickens). Or, if you don't know the breeds, if you'll send photos, we can help you try to identify the breeds.
In my experience, some breeds are slower to develop feathers: the Cochins, Salmon Faverolles, Jersey Giants, etc. Basically, the heavier breeds. I also think that large fowl birds tend to develop more slowly than the bantams.
With a lot of my bantam breed chicks, I could get a pretty good idea of sex by looking at combs & wattles around 3-4 weeks old. With the large fowl breed chicks, I could look at combs & wattles by 6-8 weeks old.
If you want to wait a little longer, once the chicks get their saddle feathers (which are the feathers on their back, near their tail), this is a great way to tell girls from the boys.
Here's a photo example from the American Buckeye Poultry Club, which shows how a pullet's saddle feathers (on the left-side of the photo) are rounded and wide; a cockerel/rooster (on the right-side of the photo) has thin, sickle-shaped feathers.
If you want to share photos of your chicks, we can all help you guess!