Advice for sexing my chicks at 4 weeks?

[sekeyslaks]

Hello All!

I have two radically different chicks that are almost 4 weeks old in a few days.both chicks I are RIR/red EE crosses from my flock.
One of the chicks(Chick 1) is a very fast growing chick,with thick legs,small comb coming in(but not red yet) almost fully feathered with a dull red color.At first glance I think it looks like a pullet,it acts like a pullet too very calm and subdued,it doesn't carry it's long tail very high like a rooster would.But it's growing it's comb first which has me worried that she is a he it's thick legs are also throwing me off.but that comb isn't big or red either!
The next chick(Chick 2) has Much brighter red coloration,this chick grows more slowly,it's still not fully feathered like the other chick,it has a beginning of a comb but no size,structure or redness that screams rooster!this chick also has thick legs and a small stubby tail,that it keeps a little high,this chick is slightly shorter than the other chick,like they are weeks apart development wise rather than the same age!This chick is also bold and playful challenges and plays with the others.when I put younger chicks in with this chick 2,it immediately challenged and bullied them,Chick 1 didn't do anything at all,Chick 1 acted like they didn't exist!

You can see why I'm having trouble sexing these chicks,I believe Chick 1 is a female,and Chick 2 is a male.Will someone with experience tell me whether I'm correct in my diagnosis?I'm sorry but due to my inherent clumsiness and ignorance with technology there are no pictures to show you of these chicks which is why I wrote a detailed account of the chicks

P.S. I also have 6 other chicks,that are much younger.They are EE's/EE crosses and a few black stars(one male and a female),three of the EE's have that wild brown female look.I was wondering whether this proves they are pullets,or can EE cockerels get this coloration too?

 

[chooks4life]

Hello All!

I have two radically different chicks that are almost 4 weeks old in a few days.both chicks I are RIR/red EE crosses from my flock.

Sounds like a good mix for easy sexing, RIR genes tend to make it a lot more visible earlier.

One of the chicks(Chick 1) is a very fast growing chick,with thick legs,small comb coming in(but not red yet) almost fully feathered with a dull red color.At first glance I think it looks like a pullet,it acts like a pullet too very calm and subdued,it doesn't carry it's long tail very high like a rooster would.But it's growing it's comb first which has me worried that she is a he it's thick legs are also throwing me off.but that comb isn't big or red either!

Behavior and tail position aren't reliable, they're probably the least reliable sex indicators there are.

It depends more on family line than gender, so while you may regularly see what you learn to identify as a mostly male behavioral trait in yours, later on you'll see other family lines in which the same behavior you identified as male is instead a mostly female behavioral trait. In reality, it's just a family trait.

All behaviors are present in both genders, all instincts are present in both genders; it's just more likely that more typically female behaviors will remain latent/dormant in males, and vice versa. It's no guarantee though.

The comb coming in says it's likely male, that's one of the very most reliable sex traits there are. But, only photos would say for sure, and possibly even not yet. Either way there is almost never any significant comb development on hens that age.

Tail position and behavior are mainly inherited. I like high tail position, so bred for it, and my hens hold their tails high and fanned. I also like docile yet spirited behavior, so while they're tame and nice-natured with me and each other, they do strut about posing hard, and are plucky enough to attack a predator --- yet they're hens, no doubt about it.

The next chick(Chick 2) has Much brighter red coloration,this chick grows more slowly,it's still not fully feathered like the other chick,it has a beginning of a comb but no size,structure or redness that screams rooster!this chick also has thick legs and a small stubby tail,that it keeps a little high,this chick is slightly shorter than the other chick,like they are weeks apart development wise rather than the same age!This chick is also bold and playful challenges and plays with the others.when I put younger chicks in with this chick 2,it immediately challenged and bullied them,Chick 1 didn't do anything at all,Chick 1 acted like they didn't exist!

They have their own personalities, and it's common to see one male so far behind another in development that he passes as female for most of his youth. Due to the feathering this one sounds like maybe a male with the slow-feathering trait, but either way it sounds like it's got a bit of attitude, lol. Female chicks play and challenge too, but when you see everything you're describing in one chick, chances are it's male. I've not had any slow-feathering females. I know it's common to some breeds, especially any raised under incubator lights, but still...

You can see why I'm having trouble sexing these chicks,I believe Chick 1 is a female,and Chick 2 is a male.Will someone with experience tell me whether I'm correct in my diagnosis?I'm sorry but due to my inherent clumsiness and ignorance with technology there are no pictures to show you of these chicks which is why I wrote a detailed account of the chicks

Very hard to say without seeing them but that's about the most info I can offer.

You could look into vent sexing, but that's also not easy for many people.

If the first chick has half a centimeter or more of comb height, I'd say it's 100% a male. Anything under that and all bets are off, though really the average female shouldn't even have a quarter of a centimeter of comb height at that age. Anything over that is likely male as well. However, it's also normal for males to have smaller combs than that; the easiest way to tell male from female by comb at that age is generally going by whatever male has developed faster, and just waiting to see with the rest.

P.S. I also have 6 other chicks,that are much younger.They are EE's/EE crosses and a few black stars(one male and a female),three of the EE's have that wild brown female look.I was wondering whether this proves they are pullets,or can EE cockerels get this coloration too?

The wild type look is present in both genders, but almost as a rule only females will have the best patterning. Males tend to have less striping, more blurred boundaries, etc. Depends how young they are, but it's generally a safe bet that the best-patterned of your chooks with wild type coloration are female.

Best wishes.

 

[sekeyslaks]

Very Informative!Thank you! I was afraid that they might both be male,that first chick is hard to figure out!Both their combs are Not significant,very small,yellow and more like a bumpless ridge than anything! the wild-type chicks I added in my message are only 2 weeks and 2 days old,is this an acceptable age to distinguish their markings?

Anyone else have any imput?

 

[sekeyslaks]

I just went to look at the two chicks again,to see if there were any more clues,there is hardly any comb development on Chick 2,Chick 1 just has a small ridge.I remember reading somewhere on BYC that a "patchy" coloration was indicative of a rooster?I ask this because Chick 1 still has some red EE feathers through some of his body breaking up the more solid feathers!Chick 2 is different has more solid red feathers ending in a pattern at the tip only.If Anyone has any thoughts please share them!

 

[chooks4life]

the wild-type chicks I added in my message are only 2 weeks and 2 days old,is this an acceptable age to distinguish their markings?

You could tell from hatching onwards, generally, if they had their 'racing stripes' on. Males tend to be a lot blurrier and duller than the females. Not ambiguous.

I just went to look at the two chicks again,to see if there were any more clues,there is hardly any comb development on Chick 2,Chick 1 just has a small ridge.I remember reading somewhere on BYC that a "patchy" coloration was indicative of a rooster?I ask this because Chick 1 still has some red EE feathers through some of his body breaking up the more solid feathers!

With birds with the wild type patterning, e.g. 'duckwing' or 'partridge', the babies start out with the same patterning (but the males have looser, blurrier patterns), and the 'patchy' coloration occurs when the males begin to lose the wild type pattern and grow 'solid'/single-colored feathers, around the onset of puberty (it can occur pretty far ahead of puberty, but not under 6 weeks on average). If it shows up within the first few weeks it's not a gender trait, generally, just means they're going to be a less patterned bird than they may have first seemed.

Chick 2 is different has more solid red feathers ending in a pattern at the tip only.If Anyone has any thoughts please share them!

Sounds like maybe a dilution gene at work more than gender, there. Some genes 'push' colors/patterns to the extremities.

Hope you get some more answers, but without pics, and with mixed-breed chooks, it's very hard for anyone to hazard a guess. EE's aren't really a breed that's standardized anyway which makes it much harder.

Best wishes.