Chicks from organic supermarket eggs

[Folly's place]

That's what 'feather sexing' generally means, and it's useful only in those specific breeding groups, where it's planned by choosing the right parents.
Mary

 

[Perris]

What I was referencing was something I once saw about the speed of development of the wing feathers. I haven’t seen it since and I’m not certain whether the girls were supposed to develop faster, or the boys. Methinks it was the girls.

I observed this with Barbezieux chicks, of which I've two pullets and one cockerel, so a tiny sample and it may be pure coincidence. It does not happen with SFHs, of which I've had several of both sexes hatch and grow out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum, glad you joined.

But what should I look for when determining the gender of these sweet babies?

This thread talks about what to look for and when. Sometime after they reach five weeks take a photo showing the head of each one. We are mainly looking at the comb and wattles, if any. Also take a photo of each showing their profile. Here I'm looking at how heavy their legs are, their posture, and general body shape. Post those photos on here. Sometimes it is pretty obvious, sometimes I don't have a clue at 5 weeks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/secondary-sex-characteristics.48329/

What I was referencing was something I once saw about the speed of development of the wing feathers.

If the mother has the dominant slow feathering gene and the father can only offer the recessive fast-feathering gene, the daughters wing feathers will be more developed than the boys wing feathers at hatch. There are many posts on this forum where people say that it always works but that is myth, not science.

This thread goes into more detail on the science behind it.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208

 

[CindyinSD]

Cool! Thanks!

If the mother has the dominant slow feathering gene and the father can only offer the recessive fast-feathering gene, the daughters wing feathers will be more developed than the boys wing feathers at hatch. There are many posts on this forum where people say that it always works but that is myth, not science.

This thread goes into more detail on the science behind it.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208

 

[CindyinSD]

That's what 'feather sexing' generally means, and it's useful only in those specific breeding groups, where it's planned by choosing the right parents.
Mary

Oh, okay. I think of feather sexing as the males & females having differences in color. Thanks!

 

[Eggscaping]

Hi. Thanks for letting me join!
I just recently hatched 4 chicks from organic eggs I bought at the supermarket. This is not my first time keeping chickens but it is my first time hatching. The problem is now determining if I have males or females. I know that's a hard one to answer since the chicks are now only a week old and the commercial hybrids wont breed true. But what should I look for when determining the gender of these sweet babies?

Welcome to BackYardChickens! So glad to have you here in our wonderful community of friendly, helpful, knowledgeable people!

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

Congratulations on your chicks! How many do you have? It is very likely that these chicks are breedsbnot able to be sexed by feather growth or colour so the only reliable way is to watch for comb and wattle growth.

With single combed chicks like these appear to be, the males will start to show pink and then red colour in their combs by as early as 3-4 weeks old and the combs will grow steadily larger. They will also start to grow little wattles around the same time. Females will not usually get redness or see much growth in their combs and wattles until they are much older, at least 3 months old.

 

[Spear1]

This little one is developing a comb much faster than the others but there is one that has delayed feather development... I'm so confused!
Oh and they all have a cheeky attitude learned from the one quail chick that was with them until recently.

 

[Folly's place]

He's a boy!
Mary

 

[50-45-1]

My daughter can pick 6 day old chicks from the straight run same breed bin at the feed store and get all girls. She takes her time studying them and she says mostly it is looking at the feet and legs. Girls will have daintier legs and smaller feet (the center toe will be shorter). Its a slight difference but it works for her.
I always let her coose our chicks.
later its true the combs on the boys "will red up" sooner.