Feather sexing 3 day old chicks

[makmm]

Hi everyone! So I decided to hatch some of our eggs because it sounded so exciting, and it is! ( it's also very addicting, I have more in the incubator now.) I'm trying to learn how to feather sex the chicks so I can decide who to keep and who to sell to Neighbors, ect. I'm thinking #1 & #2 are girls and #3 is a boy. Or is it to early to feather sex?

The father of the chicks is a molted Cochin bantam.
The mother of the yellow one is a white leg horn.
The mother of the yellow and black chicks are Plymouth Barred Rocks.

 

[R2elk]

Hi everyone! So I decided to hatch some of our eggs because it sounded so exciting, and it is! ( it's also very addicting, I have more in the incubator now.) I'm trying to learn how to feather sex the chicks so I can decide who to keep and who to sell to Neighbors, ect. I'm thinking #1 & #2 are girls and #3 is a boy. Or is it to early to feather sex?

The father of the chicks is a molted Cochin bantam.
The mother of the yellow one is a white leg horn.
The mother of the yellow and black chicks are Plymouth Barred Rocks.
View attachment 1141734 View attachment 1141736 View attachment 1141738

Feather sexing only works on one to three day old chicks. Feather sexing does not work on all varieties of chicks.

Pullets will have a double row of wing feathers and cockerels will only have a single row of wing feathers.

My guess is that your chicks are not able to be feather sexed or if they are that all three are cockerels.

Good luck

 

[junebuggena]

It requires a very specific combination of genetics for feather sexing to be accurate. Most chicks can not be sexed with that method.

 

[Gray Farms]

Wing sexing only works for very few specific breeds and bloodlines thereof that have been specifically bred for it. And only on day one.

 

[keesmom]

Do either of the chicks from the barred Rock mother have a head spot? If so those are cockerels. A non-barred, non-white male over a barred female results in sex linked offspring - barred cockerels and black pullets. Cockerel chicks will have a head spot and pullet chicks will not.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

I agree with the posts above. If you can post some more pics when they are around five weeks old, I can tell you their genders! They are very cute! I hatched out six this summer, under a mom, it is so exciting! I ended up having half boys and half girls. I would love to do it again, but we don't have a lot of room, and we can't have any more roosters, because I have tried Reno ing them on Craigslist and FB, but no luck. We end up having to butcher them, which I hate doing!

 

[Birdinhand]

if it's a breed that can be feather sexed, then they would all be cockerals... I've done experiments and found that it's not always accurate and culling a hen by accident is an expensive and sad way to go. I grow them out till they show secondary characteristics. they just can't bring that egg sniffer thingy to market that tells the sex before incubation, fast enough!

 

[makmm]

Feather sexing only works on one to three day old chicks. Feather sexing does not work on all varieties of chicks.

Pullets will have a double row of wing feathers and cockerels will only have a single row of wing feathers.

My guess is that your chicks are not able to be feather sexed or if they are that all three are cockerels.

Good luck

Shucks I don't need any more roosters! Fingers crossed they are not. Thank you

 

[makmm]

if it's a breed that can be feather sexed, then they would all be cockerals... I've done experiments and found that it's not always accurate and culling a hen by accident is an expensive and sad way to go. I grow them out till they show secondary characteristics. they just can't bring that egg sniffer thingy to market that tells the sex before incubation, fast enough!

Thank you

 

[R2elk]

Shucks I don't need any more roosters! Fingers crossed they are not. Thank you

Cream Legbars and the Rose Comb Legbars that I am working on are auto sexing and the pullets and cockerels are easily determined as soon as they are dry from hatching. They also lay pretty blue eggs.