Do speckles always indicate hens?

[FloorCandy]

Also, I forgot to add, 1,2,3 look like boys, it’s early, things can change, but at very least I think 3 is definitely male. The one with the best chance of not being a male, of those 3 is 2.

 

[Fenrisulfr]

Hen without speckles ... here is mine.
As she is patterned on the back, she is no Manchurian (homozygous Golden) as I thought first.

 

[FloorCandy]

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.

Are they 3 weeks old now? I went and checked my calendar and I have 12 day old chicks that look about the same stage as yours, and my chicks that are 3 weeks and 3 days are totally feathered except directly around their eyes. Did you hatch them or buy chicks, perhaps if you bought chicks, they aren’t as old as you had thought. If they’re only 1 1/2 or 2 weeks there’s more hope for them being hens than if they are 3-4 weeks.

 

[muans]

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

i think you've got only one female the last picture both the 1st and 3rd pictures are male for me but the 2nd one i am not sure..and i think they are a bit early to sex wait 2 more weeks and then everything will be clear

 

[muans]

Are they 3 weeks old now? I went and checked my calendar and I have 12 day old chicks that look about the same stage as yours, and my chicks that are 3 weeks and 3 days are totally feathered except directly around their eyes. Did you hatch them or buy chicks, perhaps if you bought chicks, they aren’t as old as you had thought. If they’re only 1 1/2 or 2 weeks there’s more hope for them being hens than if they are 3-4 weeks.

me too i think they are a bit young to be 4 weeks old and to me they seems to be 2-3weeks old

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

They do look really immature, right? They hatched on December 22 (I hatched them), so I'm pretty sure that's 4 weeks.

Actually, now that I look at the pictures again, I think picture 1 and 3 may be the same bird. In that case, I also thought those were male. I'll try to get pictures of the others, but they're at the "popcorn" phase and nearly impossible to either catch or photograph!

 

[FloorCandy]

They do look really immature, right? They hatched on December 22 (I hatched them), so I'm pretty sure that's 4 weeks.

Actually, now that I look at the pictures again, I think picture 1 and 3 may be the same bird. In that case, I also thought those were male. I'll try to get pictures of the others, but they're at the "popcorn" phase and nearly impossible to either catch or photograph!

what are you feeding them?
This chick hatched January 10th, so that’s 11 days old

The smaller one is 6 days old

Just something to keep an eye on, I have chicks that hatched December 29, which look like this

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

These are maturing much more slowly than the first few sets I had. I thought maybe it was the weather or season -- I suppose I should have been giving them more supplemental light but they weren't cold like the other birds I had. The birds get plain old chicken feed with mealworm and peanut supplemented for protein. It's hard to get high protein feed where I am. Sometimes the feed store has it, mostly they don't.

 

[FloorCandy]

These are maturing much more slowly than the first few sets I had. I thought maybe it was the weather or season -- I suppose I should have been giving them more supplemental light but they weren't cold like the other birds I had. The birds get plain old chicken feed with mealworm and peanut supplemented for protein. It's hard to get high protein feed where I am. Sometimes the feed store has it, mostly they don't.

Since I’m raising a lot of chicks right now to have hens for sale in March, I have a TON of chicks in the house. The ones born the 29th are on the bottom shelf in a corner with no extra light. They’ll be going outside next week, once their eyes arent bald anymore.

I think the issue might be protein. I’m not an expert on supplements, but perhaps someone can suggest some other ways to up the protein in their feed with stuff you have available.

 

[Captain Quark]

Since I’m raising a lot of chicks right now to have hens for sale in March, I have a TON of chicks in the house. The ones born the 29th are on the bottom shelf in a corner with no extra light. They’ll be going outside next week, once their eyes arent bald anymore.

I think the issue might be protein. I’m not an expert on supplements, but perhaps someone can suggest some other ways to up the protein in their feed with stuff you have available.

I can't get proper game bird feed here so I get organic turkey starter. Has great protein ratio and no medication in it. Have to get my feed store to order it in but they do and cost is reasonable.