Cream Legbar chick (hatched 6/12) - male or female?

[LittleChickSpy]

I thought it would be so easy... lol. I only have one chick (was an extra someone kindly sent me with a different breed order of hatching eggs).

I was totally sure it was male the last 2 days, but now I have myself confused about how dark that stripe is, with no other chicks of its kind to compare.


Either way, I'm pretty much just happy it hatched and is healthy! Thanks!

 

[Veer67]

You have a little cockerel. Male Legbars usually have a white spot of their head and their markings are more unclear (fuzzier) than a pullets. Females will have a clearly defined (dark colored) "V" shape on their head or chipmunk pattern.

 

[Pinkaboo]

I thought it would be so easy... lol. I only have one chick (was an extra someone kindly sent me with a different breed order of hatching eggs). I was totally sure it was male the last 2 days, but now I have myself confused about how dark that stripe is, with no other chicks of its kind to compare. Either way, I'm pretty much just happy it hatched and is healthy! Thanks!

Mine are all hens

The dark stripe is more defined at hatching in the males its more fuzzy and blended in

Hen on the left

 

[KristineY]

My initial thought too is cockerel but I can't make out too well how distinct the eye markings are or whether the down color is grey. I have two flocks of CCL's (GFF lines) and some pullets hatch out with lighter yet still distinct striping. The white spot on that one is pretty large but some of my pullets have hatched out with smaller white spots on their heads as well so the presence of a white head spot is not determinative of a male. (Those pullets go right in the layer pen since I'll only breed back the ones with the better auto-sexing features).

If his down color is, in fact grey, it's a male. Otherwise, you'll be able to tell in a week if he's a "he" if he starts feathering out in barred grey.

 

[LittleChickSpy]

Thank you. His side fuzz is rather greyish, so I will keep assuming male. Now, I have fingers crossed all the other chicks I am in love with from this hatch are female, haha. This guy is my first roo ever (that I know of. Statistically, there are probably 5-6 in the brooder right now!) and I am not into the idea of keeping more than 1-2 around.

 

[BantamLover21]

It looks like a male to me, but I could be wrong. You'll know for sure as it gets older and develops its adult feathers.

 

[LittleChickSpy]

Feathers are growing in. Any new guesses? I so thought I'd be able to tell. I still feel like 90% male.
They are greyish, white, and light brown.

 

[LittleChickSpy]

Does the grey chick fuzz indicate definite cockerel? I don't know why it drives me so crazy not to know. It isn't like I know with the 11 others I hatched with this guy. I guess because I am supposed to be able to know.

 

[dretd]

Does the grey chick fuzz indicate definite cockerel? I don't know why it drives me so crazy not to know. It isn't like I know with the 11 others I hatched with this guy. I guess because I am supposed to be able to know.

Hi and welcome to Cream Legbar ownership!

In general boys are grey and girls are brown. Yours looks like a boy.

The best thing to look at is the distinct creamy tan chipmunk stripes on the back. Girls will have a stripe of brown that ideally stretches from the head to the rump and be bracketed by very sharply contrasted cream to tan stripes. Boys can have stripes but they tend to be more blurred and a more greyish hue.

Girls generally have a brown head- V whereas the boys have a more diffuse pattern. The eyeliner is more sharply defined in girls but some boys will have it to some degree so without comparisons or experience I think its harder to go by the eyeliner.

The headspot. This is a hard one. The Standard of Perfection from England says girls can have a light head spot in the middle of the dark stripe on the head and it neglects to mention a headspot at all in the boys. The boys can have a lighter tannish grey down and the headspot is more diffuse like frosting so you can totally miss that the boy has a head spot. I think this is why it is missing from the description of the down in the male chicks.

Here is a photo of the some of the girls from my latest hatch. If you look at the chipmunk stripes, you can see that they are all very well contrasted and sharp against the brown back/rump stripe. The one chick in the upper left has a large headspot that almost blurrs the lines of the V. I had no trouble sexing her but it could be confusing to some. I have her marked and unless she has outstanding qualities in other areas, she will go into the layer flock and not used for breeding.


Here is a picture of 2 boys and 2 girls under a broody. The chick in the middle front is a boy. He is more grey with no V and no chipmunk stripes. The one shy chick in the center trying to tunnel its way into the broody's feathers is also a boy. He has 2 lighter stripes but they are not edged in black and contrasted like the girls are and the stripes have a more light grey tone to them.

I hope this helps!

 

[Pinkaboo]

Feathers are growing in. Any new guesses? I so thought I'd be able to tell. I still feel like 90% male.
They are greyish, white, and light brown.

The breeder I bought from said he's had chicks where he's not culled the boys and one turned out to be a hen !
He was sure it was a boy and had he not needed some for a buyer it would of been snake food ; (