Do speckles always indicate hens?

[CovidtimeQuail]

I crossed an Italian hen with a Tibetan roo and got a mixed bag of 7 chicks, most of them with some white on their wings and with dark bodies. They all seem to have some type of speckling on the chest, although I suspect that two may be males because the speckles aren't as pronounced and their chests are lighter (they are 4 weeks old).

If they have speckling, does that automatically mean they are female?

 

[Fenrisulfr]

Unfortunately it'll not always indicates, if it's a hen.

The Tibetans are showing kinda speckles on the chest, but they are not feather sexable.

Also sometimes even feather-sexable colors are showing unexpected speckles or none, despite the sex.
I have an Italian hen, which has no speckles at all and I had roos which had a few speckles.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

Italian hen with no speckles?

Sigh. I'm afraid with my luck I've lost the hen lottery again. Here are a few pics of what I think might be males and females. Maybe that Italian with no speckles could be a hen too, if I'm lucky!

 

[Fenrisulfr]

Italian hen with no speckles?

... [...]

She is realy a rare exception, but it is possible.

Pic 1 might be a male, but you need to wait. It is still an early stage.
2 is an interesting color. Does not exactly look Italian. I am curious.
3 and 4 are Tibetan/Rosetta ... you need to wait for crowing or vent testing.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

Bird number 2 is pink. It's "kinda" Italian, but I swear it is pink. Some of the other birds have pink patches too.

I thought they were unique, just not anything like I predicted they would turn out.

 

[shrimpsilkies]

Italian hen with no speckles?

Sigh. I'm afraid with my luck I've lost the hen lottery again. Here are a few pics of what I think might be males and females. Maybe that Italian with no speckles could be a hen too, if I'm lucky!

View attachment 2497276View attachment 2497277View attachment 2497280View attachment 2497281

Looks like 3 boys and an unsexable to me. Still way early to say definitively though. “Speckles” on any of the Tibetan or Rosetta varieties are just normal for the color and don’t really mean much of anything. It’s possible the males might show a little more reddish coloration but by then you can probably tell from the behavior, foam, or crowing.

 

[Quailobsessed]

The first three look like males to me. The fourth can't be feather sexed.

 

[FloorCandy]

She is realy a rare exception, but it is possible.

Pic 1 might be a male, but you need to wait. It is still an early stage.
2 is an interesting color. Does not exactly look Italian. I am curious.
3 and 4 are Tibetan/Rosetta ... you need to wait for crowing or vent testing.

I had 2 that had that pink/peach tint and I had posted pics a while back, I think the general consensus was Italian. I had started looking up photos based on that, and started seeing more like mine, but even grown they’re very rouxy colored I guess you would call it, but the spots are black, not brown. I’d say they grew into very very golden Italians.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

Thanks @FloorCandy. I was guessing the pink might turn more golden/tan over time, but at about 3 weeks old, it looked like I put a bunch of birds in the wash with a red sock.

 

[RUNuts]

4 weeks is still on the young side. At this stage, I'm afraid these are guesses. For the wild type, they will all have spots to some extent. I have incorrectly sexed quail at younger than 6 weeks. But you have a general idea. Just be prepared for a couple oops.