8 Chicklets in a box... gender question about 1 of them

[Gifa]

So... nearly all of the chicks are facing right and looking at me out of their right eye... the one that is facing left is the one I am starting to wonder about. I have no experience, and realize it may still be too early, but I will welcome any experienced eyes regarding this little one. Thank you in advance.

It is a SL Wyandotte. It may still be too early to tell...but there are two other SLWs in the box (one behind the chipmunky looking one and one in the corner), and this one is starting to look drastically different from them.

I got these chicks Friday morning, and over the last three days, this one SLW has developed a very white breast and lighter wings in contrast with the other two who are still very grey, despite starting out looking the same.

I looked at everyone's wing feathers yesterday and saw very clearly 2 rows of feathers on everyone... including the SLW in question... which I have read indicates a pullet... But the abundance of white (almost yellow in places) is giving me doubts. And it is still going to be a few weeks before the comb does it's thing and really cinches the deal.

Thoughts?


p.s. (best case scenario, they are all pullets, this one just looks different... the "just my luck" scenario, this one is a pullet, the other two are not... the worst case scenario being, 3 chicken dinners. Ooooh, noooo!

)

 

[ChicKat]

I like your avatar---it looks like a painting.....

Did you purchase pullets? That with the double feathers would lead me to think different colored pullet...are SLW sexually dimorphic (males and females look different) chickens? If yes...then maybe a male if males are lighter.

good luck-- hope you have a pullet.

 

[Gifa]

I like your avatar---it looks like a painting.....

Did you purchase pullets? That with the double feathers would lead me to think different colored pullet...are SLW sexually dimorphic (males and females look different) chickens? If yes...then maybe a male if males are lighter.

good luck-- hope you have a pullet.

Thanks. My avatar is a painting.

It's part of a series of duck paintings I am doing.


I purchased pullets... but you know how that works...90% sure is not 100% sure, and I don't think SLWs are sex linked. Like I said they all looked very much the same when I brought them home... but in the last few days, this one has lightened considerably.

I hope it is a pullet as well.

 

[aoxa]

I love how you have your thermometer set up! I need something like that

It is too hard to tell the gender/breed with the image above. It's facing away from the camera for one thing, and it's far too early to sex them.

It doesn't look like any SLW I have seen though.. :/

 

[dretd]

I think its way too early to look at anything color-wise or comb-wise for that matter! I would wait 3-4 weeks and then you may start seeing differences in how they feather out. The boys eventually will have white on their saddles and wings.

I haven't raised this Wyandottes, so I don't have personal experience with this breed, but in general the boys seems to feather out slower in comparison with the girls so the tail feather and wing-bows seem more downy for a longer period of time.

 

[Gifa]

Thank you all for your kind responses.

I figured it was a little too early to even ask, but the gloriousness of it's white breast seemed really odd. Honestly, I don't think I'd mind terribly if one of my "wyno's" turned out to be some other breed. But KC says no roosters, so... that's kinda important.

We'll see in a few weeks.

Thanks again!

p.s. I had two thermometers set up in there for the first couple of days until I got it just right. It's 95 degrees directly under the light, and 84 degrees around the edges. Good times and it works well. The chicks seem comfortable.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Also, note that feather sexing only works in a select few pure bred chickens. I'm not certain if Wyandotte is on that list. ETA Wyandotte is on the list.

http://www.thai-farm.com/feather-sexing-chickens/

 

[Gifa]

Ah thank you!

 

[yorklady]

I love your duck painting avatar!

 

[ChicKat]

Thanks. My avatar is a painting.

It's part of a series of duck paintings I am doing.


I purchased pullets... but you know how that works...90% sure is not 100% sure, and I don't think SLWs are sex linked. Like I said they all looked very much the same when I brought them home... but in the last few days, this one has lightened considerably.

I hope it is a pullet as well.

WOW!!!!!!!! You are a very, very talented painter. :O)