Fertile eggs?

[Cool_Catrules456]

At 4 weeks this is my guesses on their gender and here are the reasons why.

Silver orpington chick. Female, little to no pink on comb, round tail feathers, fast feathering, slightly smaller legs then the ones I think are boys. No sign of male traits.

Brown orpington chick. Male, long straight tail featheres, slightly more pink on comb than the silver one, slow feathering.

White chick. Undetermined, slight pink on comb, round feathers. Slow feathering, no signs of anything else though. Leaning towards male though. For what reason, I am unsure.

Gold to silver chick. Male. You know the reason. Could be feather sexed. Male.

 

[NatJ]

At 4 weeks this is my guesses on their gender and here are the reasons why.

Silver orpington chick. Female, little to no pink on comb, round tail feathers, fast feathering, slightly smaller legs then the ones I think are boys. No sign of male traits.

Brown orpington chick. Male, long straight tail featheres, slightly more pink on comb than the silver one, slow feathering.

White chick. Undetermined, slight pink on comb, round feathers. Slow feathering, no signs of anything else though. Leaning towards male though. For what reason, I am unsure.

Gold to silver chick. Male. You know the reason. Could be feather sexed. Male.

At 4 weeks it's a bit early, but it will be interesting to see later if you were right. Sometimes a person can tell that early, on some chicks.

Listing your reasons like that is helpful if anyone wants to check you, and even more helpful for you to learn in future-- so you can look back later and tell which points were useful and which were not.

Regarding the "brown orpington chick": I wouldn't expect the tail feathers to indicate anything about gender at that age.

If the father really was fast feathering (two copies of the recessive gene), then all three of hte slow feathering ones must be males. On the other hand, if any of the slow ones are females, then the father must have slow feathering as well as fast (one copy of the dominant for slow feathering, one copy of the recessive for fast.) So either you can sex the chicks by feathering speed, or you learn something about the father's genes

 

[Cool_Catrules456]

At 4 weeks it's a bit early, but it will be interesting to see later if you were right. Sometimes a person can tell that early, on some chicks.

Listing your reasons like that is helpful if anyone wants to check you, and even more helpful for you to learn in future-- so you can look back later and tell which points were useful and which were not.

Regarding the "brown orpington chick": I wouldn't expect the tail feathers to indicate anything about gender at that age.

If the father really was fast feathering (two copies of the recessive gene), then all three of hte slow feathering ones must be males. On the other hand, if any of the slow ones are females, then the father must have slow feathering as well as fast (one copy of the dominant for slow feathering, one copy of the recessive for fast.) So either you can sex the chicks by feathering speed, or you learn something about the father's genes

True, it could also be the mothers too? You said they have to be slow feathering mothers? I know the GLW was a slow feathering as a chick. (The slowest one out there now) the rest are somewhere in the middle. now back to the tail feathers I know its not 100% accurate. I just like to take note on it. I’m also looking for breed related male traits. These all count as easter eggers. So wattles are out, so is early comb development. So are sickles. The best way of sexing is the rust patch the males get on their shoulders. And that comes in at roughly 5 weeks?

 

[NatJ]

True, it could also be the mothers too? You said they have to be slow feathering mothers?

For a chick to be slow feathering:
--either gender could inherit it from their father
--a male can inherit it from his mother

So either they are males, or if any are females that proves the father must himself have slow feathering.

If you're sure the father is fast feathering, then the slow feathering chicks must get it from their mothers, and thus must be males.

the tail feathers I know its not 100% accurate. I just like to take note on it.

Yes, taking note makes sense.

I’m also looking for breed related male traits. These all count as easter eggers. So wattles are out, so is early comb development.

Why are wattles and comb development out?
I've identified plenty of pea-comb cockerels by their wattles and combs.
Small pea combs confuse people who are used to single combs, but if you compare pea combs to each other they can work fine. The same goes for wattles, as long as they aren't hidden by a beard.

The best way of sexing is the rust patch the males get on their shoulders. And that comes in at roughly 5 weeks?

Sorry, I don't know what age that appears. I've mostly had breeds where that would not be useful, so I've never paid much attention to it.

 

[Cool_Catrules456]

For a chick to be slow feathering:
--either gender could inherit it from their father
--a male can inherit it from his mother

So either they are males, or if any are females that proves the father must himself have slow feathering.

If you're sure the father is fast feathering, then the slow feathering chicks must get it from their mothers, and thus must be males.


Yes, taking note makes sense.


Why are wattles and comb development out?
I've identified plenty of pea-comb cockerels by their wattles and combs.
Small pea combs confuse people who are used to single combs, but if you compare pea combs to each other they can work fine. The same goes for wattles, as long as they aren't hidden by a beard.


Sorry, I don't know what age that appears. I've mostly had breeds where that would not be useful, so I've never paid much attention to it.

I am fairly sure the father was fast feathering. The hens I am not so sure of is the problem. I did not document them as well.

The comb and wattles are out because EE are a slow developing breed. These chicks count as EE. EEs dont have large wattles. They have small ones that don’t get red until they are basically crowing. The comb develops late aswell. Large combs does not allways mean males. So I dont go off of that unless its a straight comb. Ive had large combed hens.

And thats fine. Its a EE male related thing. I call them EE as their father was most likely (Judging by beard, muffs, comb,and legs) Was a second, or third gen EE. (By that I mean the fathers were breed to other brown layers, kinda like olive eggers). F1 F2 that kind of thing. Making the chicks very likely to lay green eggs. Of course there is the chance he does not have the gene, if not, we have some gorgeous offspring from him. Some of them are getting very nice coloring. I will show you once all their featehrs come in. (Most of them are just now getting some neck feather’s in)

 

[NatJ]

The comb and wattles are out because EE are a slow developing breed. These chicks count as EE. EEs dont have large wattles. They have small ones that don’t get red until they are basically crowing.

Any chicken that has a pea comb will tend to have small wattles.

I've used comb & wattles to sex a fair number of chickens with pea combs, from a variety of breeds. I didn't have too much trouble, except for the Sumatras (because their comb & wattles were black, so I couldn't judge by color the way I usually do.)

But if your particular line are slow to develop, I can see why it would not work for you.

Some of them are getting very nice coloring. I will show you once all their featehrs come in. (Most of them are just now getting some neck feather’s in)

I'm looking forward to seeing them!

 

[Cool_Catrules456]

Does the size of the chick matter? The silver orpington chick is way larger than the brown orpington chick. I just find it odd how they both have the same mother and father, yet look so different. One looks more like the father, and the other looks more like the mother. Heres how my favorite one is coming along, I love the neck coloring on them. Hoping this one is female to be able to keep them!

 

[Cool_Catrules456]

Does the size of the chick matter? The silver orpington chick is way larger than the brown orpington chick. I just find it odd how they both have the same mother and father, yet look so different. One looks more like the father, and the other looks more like the mother. Heres how my favorite one is coming along, I love the neck coloring on them. Hoping this one is female to be able to keep them!View attachment 3301546View attachment 3301548

Sorry if my hands in the way, they wont stay still, this is best I can do.

 

[Cool_Catrules456]

The eggs I gave that family member have hatched and are here now. One was an assisted hatch though, he/she has not absorbed all their yolk. Its hot enough to where they dont need a heat lamp at the moment, but since one is wet, I put a old sock over them as a blanket, because I cant find my heat lamp for some reason? The other is good though, perfect chick. Its 85F right now so they should be fine until tonight.

 

[Cool_Catrules456]

Just took a good look at the chick, its just the umbilical cord, im going to try to feather sex them to see if it comes out correct, just to see. Ill wait until tomorrow for the weeker chick but for the healthy chick, it should be no problem.