Buff orpington sex trait question

[mrsdelore]

Hi all! Love this forum and have found it so helpful.

Quick question to those with buffs. Are there sex indications as the chicks start to feather out? We got six straight run chicks that are now 3.5 weeks old. Five of those chicks sprouted long wing feathers right after we brought them home and little tails soon after. They now have tails over an inch long and wing feathers that go almost to their rumps. Then there is chick #5. From the beginning, it has had less feathering than the other 5. No wing feathers to speak of for a at least a week after the others and still barely any tail. It is starting to feather in along the back, just as the others are, but I've noticed the feathers on this one are a shade or two darker than on the other five.

Is it possible, based on these feathering traits, that we have 5 pullets and one cockerel? (I would sure hate for it to be the other way around!) Or is there really no feathering difference on buffs?

 

[drumstick diva]

It's not written in stone but, generally in many breeds the male is slower to feather out. How do the combs look on your chicks?

 

[mrsdelore]

It's not written in stone but, generally in many breeds the male is slower to feather out. How do the combs look on your chicks?

Combs are still fairly small at this point and I don't see much difference between them. I will try to get some pictures later.

 

[mrsdelore]

Ok, let's see if these photos help any.....


One of the 5 that are more feathered - not much comb.




More feathered on the left, less feathered and darker on the right







Less feathered one's comb - not a lot going on but *maybe* a little bigger than the others.

 

[JanetS]

My "surprise" cockerel already had a red comb at 3 to 4 weeks. None of yours stand out yet but they are still young.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Tail vs no tail (or pointy vs stubby) was an early indicator for my Orps. My boys all had no tail to speak of and then when they did, it was stubby and square.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Too early to be sure. Slow feathering tends to be a male trait, but not always. They are both looking like pullets, for now.

 

[mrsdelore]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. I started my flock last year with Plymouth Rocks and they were pretty easy to tell early on who was a pullet and who was a cockerel.

I think next year, I may just suck it up and mail order pullets of the breeds I want so I don't have to do (so much) of the guessing game.

I wanted to grow my egg-laying flock this year and only bought 6 red sex link pullets because I really wanted other varieties of chickens. But they were all sold at TSC as straight runs, so then you are just playing the odds game and I've been trying to get an idea as early as possible what sex they are so I know if I need to add more birds.

And then I wonder why my husband calls me a crazy chicken lady!

 

[manychitlens]

I don't know the answer to your question but I have been doing a lot of research on orps. I have a chocolate and a blue, although they are from a breeder (the blue is 100% english); I'm only pointing these things out because I have no idea if there is a difference between hatchery vs breeder, English vs non english, color, etc. The chocolate is for sure a female, she is sex linked so I know that for a fact. She is 4 weeks old, and finally has most of her wing feathers in and is starting on her back feathers. No comb, I can barely see any comb at all. The blue (straight run), however, is basically a gigantic fluff ball still. S/he is 3 weeks old, and BARELY is getting wing feathers. They are still short, like little dinosaur arms. The entire rest of its body is covered in fluff still. It's like a huge 3 day old chick, lol. There is the start of a comb, too. All of this to say that I emailed the breeder just this morning, because I am very curious whether these are male traits. He said that females can also feather out really slowly, although males do tend to be slower. Also that by 5-6 weeks I should be able to make a pretty educated guess. Sadly (because I can't keep roos) I'm leaning towards male at this point, but who knows. We are all very attached to this little one, so I really hope it's just a very late bloomer!!

Anyway sorry this is so long and probably not helpful, lol. Just wanted to commiserate on the orps being difficult to sex!!

 

[BantamLover21]

Too early to be sure. Slow feathering tends to be a male trait, but not always. They are both looking like pullets, for now.

Agreed.