Sexing chicks

[junebuggena]

Could you let us know what you look for when sexing chicks by their wings? We are in the "city" and can not have roosters and most the people in my area who are selling chicks sell them unsexed so I'd like to know as much as I can in trying to determine what they are as best I can before bringing them home, falling in love and then finding I can't keep them if they're roos!

Thanks so much

Feather sexing only works for a very specific set of conditions. You need to breed a fast feathering rooster with a slow feathering hen. It's just guessing, otherwise.

 

[Michael OShay]

Feather sexing only works for a very specific set of conditions. You need to breed a fast feathering rooster with a slow feathering hen. It's just guessing, otherwise.

X2 on junebuggena's post.

 

[Birdrain92]

Feather sexing only works for a very specific set of conditions. You need to breed a fast feathering rooster with a slow feathering hen. It's just guessing, otherwise.

I've done it with all of my chickens I've ever gotten and there's nothing special about them. Gotten them from people on Craigslist and hatchery birds and it's worked for me every time.

 

[junebuggena]

Then you got lucky, and are good at guessing. I've tried it on my black sexlinks. It doesn't work reliably.

 

[Birdrain92]

Then you got lucky, and are good at guessing. I've tried it on my black sexlinks. It doesn't work reliably.

I must be lucky, for now. Which wing feathers are you using? I look at the secondary feathers. I don't use length I look at the over all shape. Yes I know the chickens in my photos are older but I've used on chicks that only have wing feathers in and it works just the same.

Pullets' secondary feathers group together leaving a gap between the primary and secondaries.

Roosters' secondaries will spread out not leaving a gap between primaries and secondaries.

 

[junebuggena]

I must be lucky, for now. Which wing feathers are you using? I look at the secondary feathers. I don't use length I look at the over all shape. Yes I know the chickens in my photos are older but I've used on chicks that only have wing feathers in and it works just the same.

Pullets' secondary feathers group together leaving a gap between the primary and secondaries.

Roosters' secondaries will spread out not leaving a gap between primaries and secondaries.

The feathers those pictures show don't develop until about 10 weeks or later. Up until those feathers come in, both male and female chicks will have the same feathering.

 

[Michael OShay]

Then you got lucky, and are good at guessing. I've tried it on my black sexlinks. It doesn't work reliably.

X2 on junebuggena's post. The following article details the problems with feather sexing (http://blog.mypetchicken.com/2014/09/30/chick-wing-feather-sexing/). Here is another quote to demonstrate that junebuggena and I are not simply voicing our own opinion or our own personal experience in this regard: WING FEATHER SEXING is ONLY accurate if you know that the chick's father was a fast-feathering breed AND the mother was a slow feathering breed. (http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/06/how-to-sex-chickens-male-or-female-hen.html)

 

[Birdrain92]

The feathers those pictures show don't develop until about 10 weeks or later. Up until those feathers come in, both male and female chicks will have the same feathering.

My chicks wing feathers are in by the time they are 3.5-4 weeks old.

X2 on junebuggena's post. The following article details the problems with feather sexing (http://blog.mypetchicken.com/2014/09/30/chick-wing-feather-sexing/). Here is another quote to demonstrate that junebuggena and I are not simply voicing our own opinion or our own personal experience in this regard: WING FEATHER SEXING is ONLY accurate if you know that the chick's father was a fast-feathering breed AND the mother was a slow feathering breed. (http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/06/how-to-sex-chickens-male-or-female-hen.html)

None of those links went over the secondary wing feathers. Most of the feathers you can use to sex for most of the breeds. The only time you can't rely on feathers to sex your bird as well are chicken breeds that are known for hen feathering. It's when the rooster will have feathers similar to a hen. Breed known for this is the Seabright. What I mean by the same feathering is there's no sickle feathers, the neck and back feathers are the same shape along with the tail coverts.

 

[Janet Lynn]

I have six different chick breeds. All but one has tail feathers now. The one with out tail feathers also has a blue tag from the hatchery on it. My grandfather told me that Roosters got their tail feathers later than hens. Here is a photo of the one I think is a Rooster.
If anyone thinks that I am wrong please tell me. Thanks

 

[mcog]

Looks like all egg producers.lol you should be able to see or notice a roosters spike after the first week or two....