7 week old Black Australorp- Roo/Pullet? 14 weeks old now on post #9

[donrae]

I see all girls in your pics.

 

[danib]

I have 2 black Australorp chics tat are a little over two weeks old. How would I determine sex? Neither have any red on them yet, but it may be too early. I just want to determine the roos asap so I can find them a good home

 

[GardeNerd]

Danib, If you got the chicks straight run, odds are, you will have to wait at least until they are 6 weeks old before they start showing initial signs of gender. However, since I first made this post back in 2009, I have had few chicks I thought were girls at 6 weeks age, that turned out to be boys, and chicks I was sure were boys that turned out to be girls. About 8 weeks it is a little easier and three months, even better. If you got the chicks as sexed pullets from a feed store or hatchery, they are pretty good at sexing them and 90% should be accurately sorted.

However on a side note...My 11 year old daughter did a school science project on sorting straight run chicks for gender. She tested a bunch of the old wives tales methods. The method that was the most reliable, was laying the chick on its back in the palm of the hand. The chicks that squirmed a lot and didn't relax after a few seconds, always turned out to be cockerels. The ones that laid still, were either girls or boys, but the test identified at least half of the boys with the squirming. We have used the method on a few different breeds and it is about 75% accurate, so it is at least better than a coin flip. It isn't perfect, but worth a try. Tail feather growth is another thing I keep an eye on. Boys sometimes have slower growing feathers in some breeds. I have lots of chick picks with some details on her science project at my blog Hanbury House, but it is just about bantam cochins, and I haven't raised any black australorps since 2010.

Best Wishes.

 

[lanajc]

I have 3 two of them have a large combs and waddles and one does not they are around 4 months got them from TSC they sold them as pullets but i am unsure am wondering about mine to

 

[GardeNerd]

Can you post any pictures of them? Wattles and combs by 4 months old in pullets is normal, just not really large ones. By 4 months old, cockerels are usually getting curved tail feathers and pointy hackle and saddle feathers.

 

[lanajc]

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[lanajc]

 

[danib]

GardeNerd...I'm going to do that. It'll be fun just to test it out. I got them at a feed store, but we'll see. I like the idea of testing the old wives tales
Thanks

 

[danib]

I laid them on their backs when I held them, and they all calmed down. I was surprised. I was expecting them to freak out, but they were very chill. Hopefully they're all females Thanks again!