Buckeye sexing help

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

Anyone have lots of Buckeyes? I have read that the male and female look opposite when young. When they were 2 days old, one had the typical male feathers, the other very much so female. I think it was the darker colored one that had “female” feathers. These two are 5 1/2 weeks old…

 

[JedJackson]

Chick A has a wider comb, and it's colorful. It could be a male, but I wouldn't say it's definite at this point. Give it a little more time and keep your eye on that comb for rapid development.

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

Chick A has a wider comb, and it's colorful. It could be a male, but I wouldn't say it's definite at this point. Give it a little more time and keep your eye on that comb for rapid development.

Do the females develop faster than the males?

 

[JedJackson]

Do the females develop faster than the males?

Not that I've noticed. When they're young the comb and wattles are the best things to go by. Somewhere around 12 weeks cockerels will start growing male specific feathering on the shoulders and in the saddle area.

 

[GlicksChicks]

Here is an exanple of a Buckeye pair I had around 10 weeks old so you can see the differences in combs.

 

[Buckeye Amy]

The chicks are the same at hatching. The only way to find out is to wait.

 

[GlicksChicks]

The chicks are the same at hatching. The only way to find out is to wait.

Agreed. I haven't seen any differences in colors at hatching. I don't know where that information comes from.

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

There was something written at one of the hatcheries about them being different at hatching, but I was only referring to the feather pattern being different, which works for some breeds and not others. Someone told me that breeders often breed for feather growth to achieve the different look in order to make sexing easier.

 

[Winderdear]

There was something written at one of the hatcheries about them being different at hatching, but I was only referring to the feather pattern being different, which works for some breeds and not others. Someone told me that breeders often breed for feather growth to achieve the different look in order to make sexing easier.

Was it perhaps this article from Cackle Hatchery?

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/22-autosex-breeds-of-chickens-and-geese/

The article states, regarding Buckeye, New Hampshire Red and Buff Orpington chicks:

“Males have a white or cream-colored spot on each upper wing.

Females have either a dark spot on the head or dorsal stripes along the back.”

I initially took this to be true for all pure Buckeyes etc. regardless of where they were bred, but I believe it’s either only true of Cackle’s lines, or maybe just something you can potentially breed for. I’m no expert, and would love to know if anyone else knows more. As far as I have heard, these three breeds are not normally considered to be autosexing.

 

[Buckeye Amy]

None of my chicks ever had white anywhere on them, ever. The two sexes are indistinguishable until about 12 weeks. Your 2 chicks both have white faces which, to me, is highly suspect. I have photos of my chicks from day 1 to maturity and just got done looking through them. I don't see white faces on any of my birds. I would not breed them if they had white on them, it is a fault.

If you would like to look through the photos on my Google Drive you can. There are a few EEs mixed in with them, they were raised together.