Boy or girl?

[Hmcquay]

Anyone care to guess a guess at the gender of these Sussex chicks? Almost 3 weeks old. The size, feathering, and behavior are almost identical. Only difference is chick A has a slightly redder comb than the other. Popular opinion suggests that would make him a boy, however, a very experienced farmer in my neighborhood has been raising chickens for over 60 years and he swears they are both hens, just based on feathers. Anyone have an opinion one way or the other? Thanks!

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

How old are they?
The one on the left definitely has a redder comb......could very well be a cockerel. I don’t notice any waddle development at this point, however. It may take a couple of weeks for gender traits to really be noticeable.

 

[Cyprus]

A is the only obvious male I see

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Obvious cockerel. What feathers was the farmer looking at? Wing feather sexing would not be applicable to these birds and Male specific saddle and hackle feathers are several weeks off yet.....

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

That could be just flushing. If it stays that way... the farmer is mistaken. Boys don't have there male color or gender shaped feathers coming in yet at this age.

Lets see a good waddle pic of both?

 

[Alexandra33]

I'm certainly leaning towards cockerel on chick A, based upon evident comb development/redness. Time will tell.

~Alex

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
Check the hackle feathers. The female hackle feathers will be rounded at the end. The male hackle feathers will be narrower and pointed at the ends.
Also if these chicks are wildtype based ( e+ allele) ...if they are e+ based the eye stripe will be darker on the female. Chick B in the 2nd pic looks to be a mix of e+/eb because the head stripe is wider and not sharply defined. In e+ based chicks the arrow on the head ( headstripe) is very clean and sharply defined. In eWh chicks, the chicks are pale yellow with no head stripe. In eb ( Brown allele) based chicks, the chick has a darker brown "helmet" on its head.
The base allele in Speckled Sussex differs worldwide. In North America it is either e+ or eWh. Both alleles ( all other things considered correctly) feather out to proper coloring when adults. In Europe, the base allele is often eb. I don't remember what it is in Australia. That I know of there are no eb based Speckled Sussex in the US. I would still let this chick with the wider head stripe grow out and see how the adult plumage looks. Just leg band the chick with zip tie so you know which one it is.
( what is an "allele"?) It is the genetic base upon which all the other colors and modifiers are painted. Think of it as the canvas for the painting. Different allele bases require different breeding considerations. For instance, in the Light Sussex, it is eWh based. So no consideration of any undercolor ( the fluffy part of the feather nearest the skin) ( which is white to the skin in Light Sussex) needs to be taken to get proper top color ( outer feathers) on the bird.
In the Light Brahma, it is eb based. therefore the undercolor has a hue which must be color balanced correctly to get the proper top color on the bird.
What is the color "Light"? It is a bird carrying 2 hits of the Columbian gene which cause the bird to be white with the black shoved to the birds extremities. The neck, tail and parts of the wing.
Best,
Karen and the Light Sussex in western PA, USA