Feather sexing chicks

[nikirushka]

I'm getting conflicting answers from people and google, so I'm posting for clarification.

I have a clutch of 8 chicks with a hen. 5 days old. I'm not going to do anything with any boys until they can be reliably sexed by comb/wattles at 6-8 weeks old, but I'm still looking and curious to see if I can ID girls v. boys now. I'm getting different answers as to slow vs. fast feathering breeds too.

Father was CLB, mothers were black marans and buff sussex.

Can they be reliably feather sexed? According to the younger method tried yesterday (culvert and primary lengths), I have two roosters and six pullets. Today they have grown a little more and I still see the same. But no tail or shoulder feathers appearing yet, of course.

Thoughts?

Pic at one day old for cuteness

 

[Ridgerunner]

Read the first post in this thread, Tim explains what it takes to make a sex linked chick. The gene has to be sex linked (the mother only has one copy of that gene), the gene the mother has must be the dominant gene, the father must have the recessive gene and both copies he has have to be that recessive gene, and you have to be able to see the effects at hatch.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208

There is a certain sex linked gene that controls how fast the feathers develop. The mother has to have the dominant slow feathering gene which she only gives to her sons. Her daughters do not get a copy from her. The father gives a copy of the recessive fast feathering gene to all his offspring. So the pullets get only a fast feathering gene from their father and will feather out faster. The boys get a fast feathering gene from their father but the dominant slow feathering gene they get from their mother over-rides that and the boys feather out slower.

If you know that the hen has the slow feathering gene and that the father only has the fast feathering gene then feather sexing is reliable. If you don't know both of those then it is not reliable.

 

[nikirushka]

I've been trying to find that out, but getting different answers for the parent breeds, hence the post. I'll have a read through, thanks.

 

[R2elk]

I'm getting conflicting answers from people and google, so I'm posting for clarification.

I have a clutch of 8 chicks with a hen. 5 days old. I'm not going to do anything with any boys until they can be reliably sexed by comb/wattles at 6-8 weeks old, but I'm still looking and curious to see if I can ID girls v. boys now. I'm getting different answers as to slow vs. fast feathering breeds too.

Father was CLB, mothers were black marans and buff sussex.

Can they be reliably feather sexed? According to the younger method tried yesterday (culvert and primary lengths), I have two roosters and six pullets. Today they have grown a little more and I still see the same. But no tail or shoulder feathers appearing yet, of course.

Thoughts?

Pic at one day old for cuteness
View attachment 1413838

Even if feather sexing did apply to your chicks, your chicks are already too old. Feather sexing only works for days 1 through 3.

 

[nikirushka]

Ah ok, I thought I was still in time for that! Never mind. Wing sexing though I'm still ok for, yes?

If I'm reading that link right, then my yellows (the CLB roo X buff sussex hen) can be wing sexed but the blacks can't be. Which makes it even more interesting, because all of the yellows are the same (look to be female) but two of the dark ones are distinctly behind in wing feather growth, which is what was making me think they are boys. This is fascinating!

 

[R2elk]

Ah ok, I thought I was still in time for that! Never mind. Wing sexing though I'm still ok for, yes?

If I'm reading that link right, then my yellows (the CLB roo X buff sussex hen) can be wing sexed but the blacks can't be. Which makes it even more interesting, because all of the yellows are the same (look to be female) but two of the dark ones are distinctly behind in wing feather growth, which is what was making me think they are boys. This is fascinating!

Feather sexing is by the wing feathers and is day one through day 3 only.

 

[nikirushka]

I mean by development, rather than length of primaries and coverts. Girls developing their feathers and sprouting tail feathers first. Sorry, wing sexing wasn't the right description. Or is that only for particular breeds?