California - Northern

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Some breeds develop much faster than others. Welsummers, for example, are easy to sex as soon as the chest feathers come in. Going by comb alone, you can definitely tell who is male or female by 3 weeks. Other breeds aren't so easy - like Orps, pure Ameraucana's, EE's. These breeds can take 5-8 weeks to sex. Sexing chicks is definitely an art, and even now I occasionally get one that stumps me for a bit. Usually my first instinct is correct though.

Black Breasted Red varieties are easy, when the boys get their chest feathers in, they're black. Pullets get salmon colored chests.



Speaking of pullets and cockerels, the other day Gav and Caesar (My OEGB cockerels) were fighting (almost 3 mo and have been crowing up a storm.). Then out of the blue the mama of the broody came and pecked Caesar on the hind end. He squawked and the fight was over.

So their broody mama ditched them on the night of a party next door. She was not broody for 3 weeks... and this past week she's making broody sounds again, not laying, and sitting on her nest.
ADD: She started laying like crazy when the peeps were about 2 months old.

Is that even possible?

??

 

[lawatt]

Totally different depending on the breed. I can tell which of my bantam cochins will be reading Cosmo versus GQ by 2 weeks old for sure. Silkies? Often need to wait for the crowing or egg laying to start. The rest are somewhere in between. There is a great thread on BYC for people to post pics and get help with gender. Just need to identify the breed, age, and get some good pics of the head to show comb and wattle development. You can try posting here as well, and those with experience in the particular breed may be able to help. If you have 2 birds that are the same breed you can often tell by comparing leg size, comb/wattle development etc., but that doesn't work for all breeds.

This was a completely non-helpful response wasn't it?

Sorry!!!

actually, it IS helpful -- if only to keep me from trying too hard to guess at this point! my only digital camera right now is my iphone, which is hard to use to photograph chicks' heads clearly anyway.

for the record, these are all "heritage" chicks from a local breeder, there are three orpingtons (2 lavs, one blue) and two basques. the blue orp is the one i'm pretty certain is male, comb is markedly larger than everyone else's, and he's tall and a bit bossy already. one of the lavs i was betting was male too, mostly by stance, but that might have just been curious-chick-checking-out-something-new tall, rather than i'm-a-boy tall. and the basques are a puzzle, one big and quiet, one small and loud.

but i'll just try to be patient!

 

[ronott1]

so sorry to hear about the cracked egg chick!

and here's another total-beginners question for you all -- do combs develop noticeably larger/faster in male chicks across all breeds, so that, say, by week 2.5 or 3 you can really see a noticeable difference? or is the difference more marked, or more speedy, in some breeds than others?

(clearly i'm studying my six chicks & trying to figure out who's what -- one of the three orps is unquestionably male, tall & with a more pronounced comb than anyone else -- but the other two i'm still guessing at -- and of my two basques, one is much larger than the other (who is smaller than ALL of the other chicks, and by far the LOUDEST), but their combs look identical at this point)

thanks for any guidance you can share! and apologies for all my beginner questions!
laura

I have a Wyendotte that is still a mystery to me. It has a pink comb and wattles at 13 weeks old. the Wyendotte thread was split on gender at 6 weeks. This one is kicking my butt!

The Pea comb will get you and the rose comb too. Feather pattern can tell on some. The best thing to do is to post pictures. I know Your Basque are hard to know the gender until the after the first molt, but you can usually tell within 6 weeks or so.

Size is not the best way to tell. Hens will often have tail feathers sooner and some like the marans have different rows of feathers at a week old.

Post pictures! We love to guess! I will post a picture of my GLW soon.

Ron

 

[ronott1]

I'm sorry Pam. I'm having equally bad luck working with broodies this summer.

Ron, I do want to go to the animal swap...taking a piggie. Are you going for sure?

Yes, I need to take three Heritage RIR Cockerels there. I will hold onto the GLW since It might be a pullet.

Can you take Corwin along with the piggie? If not, I can get him on Friday evening.

I will get there close to 8:00 this time. Last time I got there way too late.

Ron

 

[Hangtown Farms]

I have a Wyendotte that is still a mystery to me. It has a pink comb and wattles at 13 weeks old. the Wyendotte thread was split on gender at 6 weeks. This one is kicking my butt!

The Pea comb will get you and the rose comb too. Feather pattern can tell on some. The best thing to do is to post pictures. I know Your Basque are hard to know the gender until the after the first molt, but you can usually tell within 6 weeks or so.

Size is not the best way to tell. Hens will often have tail feathers sooner and some like the marans have different rows of feathers at a week old.

Post pictures! We love to guess! I will post a picture of my GLW soon.

Ron

I had 2 black ameraucana's one I could tell was a rooster from a early age. his brother came into his own over a month later.

 

[lawatt]

I have a Wyendotte that is still a mystery to me. It has a pink comb and wattles at 13 weeks old. the Wyendotte thread was split on gender at 6 weeks. This one is kicking my butt!

The Pea comb will get you and the rose comb too. Feather pattern can tell on some. The best thing to do is to post pictures. I know Your Basque are hard to know the gender until the after the first molt, but you can usually tell within 6 weeks or so.

Size is not the best way to tell. Hens will often have tail feathers sooner and some like the marans have different rows of feathers at a week old.

Post pictures! We love to guess! I will post a picture of my GLW soon.

Ron

ok, Ron asks for photos, Ron gets photos! first the basques -- and note that all the chicks will be 3 weeks old on thursday:



larger, quieter, got tail feathers earlier, and all the feathers are darker



known as Baby around here -- smaller, lighter-colored feathers, few tail feathers yet, and *piercingly* loud -- i swear my eardrums feel like they're going to explode when this one gets going.



here's the two of them together -- Baby already complaining, and the other has pooped on the floor. their combs look basically the same at this point.

orps coming up shortly!

 

[lawatt]

and here are the orps:



blue -- almost unquestionably male



the "tall" lavender orp -- but comb is much smaller than blue's at this point!



here those two are in profile -- both stand very tall, with a very "male" stance -- and blue is the bossiest (also dislikes being picked up the most!)



and here are the two lavenders together -- their feet/legs are all the same size, as far as i can tell, but this one definitely keeps a lower profile.



here's that second lav -- and the rear ends of the tall ones!



finally, all three together. i think the comb on the tall lav is the smallest -- but maybe stance is a better predictor?

all three orps are getting feathers more slowly than the basques (and my 6th chick, the cream legbar, who i know is a girl), but are much larger/stronger than the others -- just a completely different body shape/frame! fascinating to see the differences between the breeds...

 

[ronott1]

Quote: This is a picture of a 2.5 week old Marraduna Basque male:

This is from Skeffling. Their site says:

Credit: Skeffling Lavender Farm​

Sexing Euskal Oiloa Chicks

The Euskal Oiloak chicks are pretty well impossible to sex for the first two weeks. Around 2 weeks old, the cockerals combs start to grow bigger than the pullets combs. The wing feathers on both sexes are a mottled beige/buff/grey. Sexing is tricky before the comb starts to come up.
Sexing is easier to confirm by 3-4 weeks when the fluff is replaced by body feathers. Both sexes are just as friendly, so variation in temperament doesn't mean variations in sex.
The males are lighter with more grey and a small amount of red and the pullet chicks more honey coloured with less white. Ideally the males should have more red or brown on them than we are seeing in North America. The Euskal Oiloak males in Spain, have less grey and more brown overall.

Read more at http://www.infobarrel.com/Euskal_Oiloak_Chicks_of_The_Rare_Basque_Hen_Chicken_Breed_Euskal_Oiloa_Oiloas#JVBbmSYvfBLHdPTz.99

Based on this, I think the smaller lighter one is a Male. The comb will start growing on him soon and the light colors will change to the Male pattern soon. Of course I could be wrong and you have two pullets.

Ron​

 

[lawatt]

This is a picture of a 2.5 week old Marraduna Basque male:

This is from Skeffling. Their site says:

Credit: Skeffling Lavender Farm​

Sexing Euskal Oiloa Chicks

The Euskal Oiloak chicks are pretty well impossible to sex for the first two weeks. Around 2 weeks old, the cockerals combs start to grow bigger than the pullets combs. The wing feathers on both sexes are a mottled beige/buff/grey. Sexing is tricky before the comb starts to come up.
Sexing is easier to confirm by 3-4 weeks when the fluff is replaced by body feathers. Both sexes are just as friendly, so variation in temperament doesn't mean variations in sex.
The males are lighter with more grey and a small amount of red and the pullet chicks more honey coloured with less white. Ideally the males should have more red or brown on them than we are seeing in North America. The Euskal Oiloak males in Spain, have less grey and more brown overall.

Read more at http://www.infobarrel.com/Euskal_Oiloak_Chicks_of_The_Rare_Basque_Hen_Chicken_Breed_Euskal_Oiloa_Oiloas#JVBbmSYvfBLHdPTz.99

Based on this, I think the smaller lighter one is a Male. The comb will start growing on him soon and the light colors will change to the Male pattern soon. Of course I could be wrong and you have two pullets.

Ron​

​

ohh, thanks for that, Ron! very helpful (as always!) -- i'm thinking your guess might be right (the breeder who hatched them thought it was the other way around), and especially if Baby stays this loud, there's no way i want to keep him/it! but two pullets would be nice too -- but only if Baby grows out of the voice!

 

[ronott1]

and here are the orps:



blue -- almost unquestionably male



the "tall" lavender orp -- but comb is much smaller than blue's at this point!



here those two are in profile -- both stand very tall, with a very "male" stance -- and blue is the bossiest (also dislikes being picked up the most!)



and here are the two lavenders together -- their feet/legs are all the same size, as far as i can tell, but this one definitely keeps a lower profile.



here's that second lav -- and the rear ends of the tall ones!



finally, all three together. i think the comb on the tall lav is the smallest -- but maybe stance is a better predictor?

all three orps are getting feathers more slowly than the basques (and my 6th chick, the cream legbar, who i know is a girl), but are much larger/stronger than the others -- just a completely different body shape/frame! fascinating to see the differences between the breeds...

My guess at this point is one boy and two girls. Big changes are coming for them!

Ron