Sexing by Wing Feathers Experience

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

I had great success (or beginner's luck) in sexing the cockerels by their developing wing feathers.

I may not have the names of the feathers right, but I landed on a blog somewhere that said if you stretch out the wings, the pullets have double sets next to their bodies and the cockerels have single sets. In this diagram that I just found, the blue layers are what I am talking about. The females had both layers of feathers, but the males only had one.

I knew that two of my Pearl Leghorns were supposed to be cockerels and I was looking for those. I did a gentle vent check, which seemed to confirm the feather results, and I marked their beaks with a dab of nail polish.

As I watched over the next week, the pullets grew tail feathers but the cockerels had nothing to show for a tail but a fuzzy stump. After that, the cockerel's combs began to swell and turn red, and now their tails are just beginning to grow.

It feels like I had a successful try at figuring out the sex, using several methods.

 

[Acre4Me]

Not an expert, but my understanding is that this (wing sexing) works for certain breeds, but not all. But, really great option if it’s the right genetics.

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

Not an expert, but my understanding is that this (wing sexing) works for certain breeds, but not all. But, really great option if it’s the right genetics.

Interesting. I wonder if anyone has collected a list of the chickens that can be sexed this way?

 

[Acre4Me]

Interesting. I wonder if anyone has collected a list of the chickens that can be sexed this way?

Yes, I believe there is a list -I’ve read about it on BYC before.

 

[house1917]

So, it's not by breed- but by cross!!

Breeding a fast feathering rooster (Leghorn, Minorca, Marans) with a slow feathering hen (Rock, Orpington, Sussex) you get fast feathering pullets and slow feathering cockerels.

Caveat- it's 'only' effective when they're a day old where the pullets will have stepped wings (primaries are longer than secondaries), and cockerels have flat wings (primaries and secondaries are the same length).

This the top level recap- there's some great scientific papers available in the public domain if you're interested in the genetics involved (they're pretty dense reads!)

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

So, it's not by breed- but by cross!!

Breeding a fast feathering rooster (Leghorn, Minorca, Marans) with a slow feathering hen (Rock, Orpington, Sussex) you get fast feathering pullets and slow feathering cockerels.

Caveat- it's 'only' effective when they're a day old where the pullets will have stepped wings (primaries are longer than secondaries), and cockerels have flat wings (primaries and secondaries are the same length).

This the top level recap- there's some great scientific papers available in the public domain if you're interested in the genetics involved (they're pretty dense reads!)

All of that pretty much went over my head.