Can Tail Length Predict Sex?

[mylilchix]

I know, I know, it sounds goofy, BUT I was looking at my 4 week old chicks today and one of my ameraucanas has a super short tail while all the rest are long. Possible roo?

Sonja

 

[Backyard Hencam]

I had a friend tell me that her grandmother had always sexed her chicks by the length of the tail. She insists that she is never wrong.

Also, it is one of the criteria set by UC Davis vet school. I'll be curious to see if your short-tailed chick is a rooster. Good luck!

 

[mylilchix]

Wow!! You learn something new everyday. The short tail chick also feathering out the slowest. So I'm guessing long tail=possible hen and short tail=possible roo. We'll see how this experiment goes.

Sonja

 

[Backyard Hencam]

Ameraucana's seem to have a downturned tail (at least mine does) so now I'm not sure that tail thing would work for determining sex. Here is something I found in an old post that might help you:

Gritsar wrote:

For future reference:

According to UC Davis Veterinary Care Program.
2. Physical Characteristics (4-6 weeks of age)
a. Comb – The cockerels comb is medium size and pinkish, the pullets is small and yellowish.
b. Legs – The cockerel’s legs are sturdy and long, the pullets are finer and shorter.
c. Tail – The cockerel’s tail is stumpy and curved, the pullets is longer and straight.
d. Back – The cockerel has a thin line of stub feathers down the center of his back, the pullet has more advanced feathering along the center of her back.
e. Side of neck, flank and crop – The feathering in the cockerel in these areas is poorly advanced, the pullets feathering in these areas is well advanced.
f. Wing bows – In the cockerel the wing bows are bare, in pullets the wing bows are covered with small feathers.

 

[BCMominMD]

Quote:
Thank you for finding and posting this.
This is exactly how my roo changed as compared to the pullett of the same breed!
Is it possible to sticky this?

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Good one cambriagardener ! Hard to remember all these at one time. I usually just tell folks that about 2 months the faces of the roos start to get pinkish and let it go at that. This is a good post and Gritstar should be commended for bringing this out in a consolidated form. Also, thank you for bringing it back. This question seems to appear multiple times per day and having this list to refer to is great........Pop

 

[mylilchix]

I'm definitely bookmarking this thread. That's a big help!! Of my 4 weekers I have 2 ameraucanas and 4 standard buff cochins. All but my blue ameraucana has a long tail and very nice feathering. Maybe I'll end up with 5 hens and 1 roo.

Sonja