Do male chicks weigh more than female chicks?

[JuliaWesterbeek]

Hi Everyone,

Today I weighed my 4 chicks, they are the same age but 1 of the chicks was a lot heavier than the other 3. I am just wondering if this chicks is really strong and healthy or that he is a male / female.

1 = 84 grams
2 = 83 grams
3 = 85 grams
4 = 100 grams

 

[ChickenGrass]

Hi there!
Male chicks are not heavier than the female ones.
If it was there would be no need for auto sexing breeds
The reason that I think one chicks is heavier than the others
Is maybe he is slightly stronger and eats more food than the others
Or simply a different breed.
Goodluck
Fionn.

 

[azygous]

ChickenGrass is right. Weight during the first week or two does not indicate sex, but it could be a sign of an aggressive temperament enabling that chick to gobble more food than its mates, and aggressive chicks sometimes turn out to be males.

So keep an eye on that little porker. If it starts sporting a redder, more developed comb by age six weeks, you will know a cockerel has infiltrated the brooder.

 

[JuliaWesterbeek]

Ok. Thank you all for your replies!

 

[centrarchid]

I have followed weights of chicks from hatch. Weights not different at hatch but between 1 and 2 weeks, males on average do pull ahead. If you have a brood of 10 with 5 of each sex you can expect some females to weigh more than the average male and some small male to weigh less than the average female. Then you can have runt males and really big females. I am talking averages, weight is not a reliable diagnostic for sex but it can be part of the math to make a better estimate. Something else that works with some of mine is foot size, especially with American Dominiques. I have other characters like down coloration and leg color to use as well. With my games comb size starts differing by 100 g.

 

[JuliaWesterbeek]

Thanks for the information! It has really been helpfull!