Silver Laced Wyandotte sexing

[lilbeastpdx]

Yours is still pretty young. They'll start to get redder around the same time as her comb and wattles. The Mediterranean breeds like leghorns, anconas, and andalusians all have a big white spot behind the ear. Wyandottes shouldn't have that.

The more you know.... Thanks! I had no idea.

 

[lilbeastpdx]

Yours is still pretty young. They'll start to get redder around the same time as her comb and wattles. The Mediterranean breeds like leghorns, anconas, and andalusians all have a big white spot behind the ear. Wyandottes shouldn't have that.

Any idea on its gender? I'm a bit concerned about the slight white patches, but the bird is at 11 weeks now. Doesn't seem too roo-ish. Here are more pics:

 

[StarMeKritten]

She definitely looks like a pullet. Some patchiness or uneven lacing is usually to be expected, particularly as they are growing and going through their juvenile molts.

 

[lilbeastpdx]

She definitely looks like a pullet. Some patchiness or uneven lacing is usually to be expected, particularly as they are growing and going through their juvenile molts.

Oh yeah? A few folks keep mentioning those white patches on her shoulders saying its a sure sign of a cockerel.

 

[lilbeastpdx]

Are juvenile molts something that happens to all breeds? I thought the birds only molted once a year.

 

[StarMeKritten]

It's nap time for my toddler so I finally have a chance to sit at the computer and type up a proper response/ explanation. I struggle to type anything very lengthy on my smartphone.

Anyway, as chicks grow up, they will go through several different phases of feathering and mini molts. It's easier to see on some breeds and colors than others. You won't notice it as much on a solid colored chicken. The first feathers that come in after the chick fluff tend to be duller colored and sometimes oddly patterned. It helps them to blend into the surroundings until they are bigger and less vulnerable. Anywhere between 2-3 months, they will start to get their adult feathering in. Your wyandotte has mostly black feathers with a stripe of white in the middle, but she probably won't look like that when she's all grown up. Her adult feathers will have much more white on them, like the feathers on her shoulders and the ones on her chest. You'll see more and more of those feathers pop up over the next few weeks and less and less of the mostly black feathers. She will molt again at about 1 year old and the lacing can change again then. I have a BLR wyandotte hen that is going through her 1 year molt right now. Her new feathers are actually coming in a different color. Her feathers look very patchy and strange right now.

I've hatched and raised around 50 wyandotte chicks this year. I sex them between 6-8 weeks old (though some I can tell apart sooner) by the size and color of their wattles. I haven't found any other way that's more reliable. I have about a dozen wyandotte chicks in the 9-10 week old range right now. I'll go take and post a few photos of them that will help show the differences between the males and females. I'm very confident that yours is a pullet.

 

[StarMeKritten]

Well, I was a little off on their age. They hatched 5/28 so they will be 11 weeks old tomorrow.

This is one of my pullets. She is getting new feathers in too and is also temporarily sporting some slightly patchy looking shoulders.

Here are my two cockerels that will also be 11 weeks old tomorrow.

 

[lilbeastpdx]

Wow! Thank you so much for that explanation. The SLW is a breed I had been wanting from the very beginning, and I gave away a five-week-old because he had red wattles and a red comb...profoundly red. I was crossing my fingers that this was a girl. Thanks so much for your vote of confidence. To me they are just a gorgeous breed--including the gold-laced ones.

I love the pics you attached. I see tiny differences between them myself, but I'll probably get better with age. Yeah, my pullet is somewhere between 11-12 weeks as I bought her on memorial day weekend/week. I assumed that she was a few days old when I bought her. She's quite tenacious...the bigger girls peck her out of the way when it comes to food, but as soon as they turn around, she sneaks back in and eats...hardly gets ruffled. Sort of cute.

 

[lilbeastpdx]

StarMeKritten,

This is the SLW I gave away because this is what it looked like at just under four weeks. I never heard it crow...but the red comb and wattles...

 

[chicksACK]

Hi, These are my two 16 week old SLW I have never had young chickens before and these guys were 7 wks old when we got them from a hatchery. We have on two seperate occasions heard crowing early in the morning. Can anyone confirm for me if the bird in the top three pics is a roo? The last two pictures are of the other one who has taken to chasing the first bird in the morning when I let them out of the coop not sure the sex of that one either. They are also in with two black australorps which I believe to be females. This is a bit stressful waiting to see for sure as we have 7 almost 3 week old chicks as well and really do not want a rooster! Thanks for any input ;-)