Does anyone have pictures of juvenile Saddle feathers?

[Henriettta]

Just what the title says, I was wondering if anyone had pictures of Saddle Feathers & other gender determining traits in juveniles

There's plenty of pics online of mature feathering, but I was wondering how early we can start telling the difference & if anyone had pictures from during their transitional period
Thank you

 

[Henriettta]

Bumping my own post just in case someone with all the answers is just tuning in

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Well saddle feathers are a sign of maturity, so not sure what you mean by juvenile. They start to come in between 12-16 weeks of age, give or take.

 

[FrankieDoodle]

I have a few pictures of Iris when his saddle feathers first started coming in, although they’re pretty low-quality. I’m not sure if this is what you’re looking for.

I don’t think I have anything earlier than this. He should’ve been around 11-12 weeks in these.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

These pics are from about 10-12 weeks. I tried to get a variety of pictures Great idea for a thread, you can sex by saddles much earlier than many think. I could do it by 10 weeks with super slow to mature Brahmas and English Orpingtons, so I suspect for most breeds you could do it at least a week earlier. All you have to do is lift the feathers on that back to search for the saddles emerging. It's super hard to get a good picture because it takes both your hands, but I tried to include one of what it looks like. A good rule of thumb is to look for any super shiny feathers.

 

[Painted Calls]

These pics are from about 10-12 weeks. I tried to get a variety of pictures Great idea for a thread, you can sex by saddles much earlier than many think. I could do it by 10 weeks with super slow to mature Brahmas and English Orpingtons, so I suspect for most breeds you could do it at least a week earlier. All you have to do is lift the feathers on that back to search for the saddles emerging. It's super hard to get a good picture because it takes both your hands, but I tried to include one of what it looks like. A good rule of thumb is to look for any super shiny feathers.
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That last pic is a great example!

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

I will also include this super weird case of a chick that I had that had failure to thrive. Here's a picture of it at twelve weeks where it obviously looked like a pullet and another at 18 weeks when he started to develop saddles He passed away shortly after and was always a runt. Just shows you how there can always be exceptions and to always keep checking!

 

[Medodge]

Super cool pics. I’ll be hunting on my babies starting around 10 weeks.

 

[JoJoM]

This guy was about 7 weeks when I took this. His saddle feathers are more prominent than the other cockerels I have that are the same age.

 

[AnnaWolf]

Not only roosters have saddle feathers hens too. The only thing is of roosters their feathers are pointy at the tip and of hens is more round.

I pointed out 1 of Toos her saddle feathers, she is 14 weeks in the picture.