Buff Orpington chicks

[Wyatt0224]

Hello everyone! I just got six chicks that were supposed to be sexed females. They are for a school project. Two of them are buff orpingtons, each in two separate groups. The groups are split three and three, one for organic chick feed and the other for name brand feed. I have two observations so far about the buff chicks. In the organic group, the buff chick is 61.7 grams with the two other chicks being 52 and 53 grams. The other buff chick in the name brand feed group is only 55 grams. Does anyone know if the chick that's 61.7 grams could be a rooster because of the large difference of wait between the other buff chick?

Now a second question about my other buff chick in the name brand feed group. "She" is already growing small tail feathers. Is this a sign "she" could be a rooster? I will post pictures later.

 

[Wyatt0224]

The first picture is the big BO chick. The second and third pictures are the second BO chick which has the tail feathers.

 

[misneachfarm]

So I am new to chickens but it seems from spending time over in the Wyandotte thread that at least with Wyandottes the males tend to feather in later, so the one getting tail feathers first would more likely be female, though I don't know if Orpingtons are the same.

I will say, though, that I wouldn't get too hung up on the weight difference at this time. 5 grams is really not very much at all - depending on your P value it might not be statistically significant, and if one chick had a full crop and the other had just pooped it would probably account for the different right there.

 

[Wyatt0224]

Thank you for your response. It wouldn't matter to me either way if it was a rooster. I just want to catch this ahead of time. I know with my Australorps around three weeks old the roosters had little combs coming through.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Orpington roosters will definitely feather out more slowly. I see the first one hasn't much as far as wing feathers either. It will be interesting to see if it ends up a rooster.

 

[Wyatt0224]

That's good to know. Do you know if that would be the same for light brahmas and Easter eggers as well? I will keep everyone posted on how they turn out.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I haven't gotten into Brahma, and only have had a few EE, so I'm not too experienced with those breeds. Slow feathering of roosters is common in cochins too, both large and bantam. Those I know. Definitely let us know.

 

[Wyatt0224]

I just weighed all my chicks again. For the project I'll be weighing them everyday but I'm not sure yet if I'll update this daily or every other day. The buff chick that grew tail feathers already has some feathers coming in behind her wings so definitely a female. The other buff chick still has no feathers. He/she also went from weighing 61.7 grams yesterday to 72.3 today. To me that is quite a jump. The other chicks went up between 2-4 grams.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

What a chunkster.

 

[misneachfarm]

What was the female's weight?