Black To White Experiment

[MysteryChicken]

Okay, the babies are moving out on Saturday. Since they'll be outside I can take better pictures.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Okay, make that 4 cockerels, & 3 pullets in this group. So, who to choose? Will just have to wait till they're older.

 

[NatJ]

Okay, make that 4 cockerels, & 3 pullets in this group.

That's the group you originally sexed as having only one cockerel, right?

#1. Barred - Pullet #2. Barred - Pullet #3. Brown Barred - Cockerel #4. Solid Brown - Pullet #5. Brown/Black - Pullet #6. Solid Black - Pullet Bonus Chick #7, Oddball Silkie - Pullet

I think your sexing method was not very accurate on this batch.

 

[MysteryChicken]

That's the group you originally sexed as having only one cockerel, right?


I think your sexing method was not very accurate on this batch.

Smarty Pants babies I haven't sexed many of, only 2 in the past. So, yeah.

 

[MysteryChicken]

But, they were correctly sexed though, the two I hatched in the past before this.

 

[NatJ]

Smarty Pants babies I haven't sexed many of, only 2 in the past. So, yeah.

Do you look for things common to all chicks, or do you have to do it differently for some chicks than others?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Do you look for things common to all chicks, or do you have to do it differently for some chicks than others?

I typically look for this patterning.

Female, butterfly shape, gap filled.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Males, not butterfly, gap.

Slow feathering male.

 

[Sally PB]

How old are those chicks in the pictures above? Just storing some more info away for future reference.

 

[NatJ]

I typically look for this patterning.

Female, butterfly shape, gap filled.

Males, not butterfly, gap.
Slow feathering male.

Thanks for explaining!

I wonder if the chickens need some specific combination of genes to show the feathers like that, or if maybe it works for most chickens but there might be some specific genes that can mess it up.

(I'm thinking of how male saddle feathers are useful for sexing in most chicken breeds, but hen-feathered males do not grow those feathers, and silkies have a feather texture that makes them hard to see. Or how red comb & wattles are a good sign of males, but black skin can cover the comb color or a beard can prevent the wattles being visible. So some things works on most chickens but not all of them. There might be some genes that change the wing shape of some chicks one direction or the other, that could explain why your wing sexing method works sometimes but not others.)