I am expecting about a dozen RIR and a dozen BR chicks late next week....in the 'bator now. I would like to keep a few pullets and 1 cockerel of each breed. I have room for about 6 add't chickens right now. Can chicks be sexed in these breeds? If so, can someone give me the details ....PLEASE??!! Thanks in advance
Yup, for the most part, at least with the BRs. Works about 90% of the time. Male: Large, irregular headspot with "frosting" band across back of head, little or no black down the leg fronts, lighter overall color, sort of faded black rather than black-black down. Females: Smaller OR more defined edges on the headspot, dark wash all the way down the leg fronts, very black down. They say RIR females sometimes have a dark stripe down the center of the head, but usually, by four weeks, the males have much thicker legs and the wattles and comb are larger than the girls. Below is a BR cockerel with the classic male headspot.
I'll add that on the RIR, I think you can sex them at around 1 1/2 weeks by the tail feathers. The females will develop their tail feathers earlier while the males will stay fuzzy-butts. There is a great page on this site of a BYC member that shows the difference... sorry I can't remember it now.
That is also a good general rule of thumb about males developing slower than females. Doesn't work on some breeds, but does on many. Here is a pair I used to own at four weeks old, male first then female. Note the tops of the wings and the size of the legs:
