Gender help!

[ButtonquailGirl14]

so, i have been looking around and from what i can tell, you can either feather or vent sex in the first few days, but if you miss that you have to wait until 6-8 weeks? is this correct? i would LOVE to learn how to sex 1-5 week old chickens, but is it possible?

 

[sylviethecochin]

Buy autosexing breeds. The satisfaction is huge.

And feather-sexing doesn't usually work unless they're crossbreeds or you know the genetics of your hens and rooster. You can feather-sex crosses if the father is fast-feathering and the mother is slow-feathering, because it's a sex-linked trait. If that isn't the case, then feathering means nothing, despite what youtube videos would have you believe.

Extremely fast feathers or extremely slow feathers are almost always a sign of a rooster.

It has to do with double-factoring. The genes that control feathering speed are located on the Z chromosome (of which a male has two copies) A hen only has one Z chromosome, and One W chromosome. Therefore, a hen can only have one copy of the gene, but a rooster can have two.

When the rooster has two copies of a feather-speed gene, it's effects are increased. take k+ (rapid feathering.) The hens (k/-) will feather slower than the roosters (k/k.)

Sorry for the infodump.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Buy autosexing breeds. The satisfaction is huge.

And feather-sexing doesn't usually work unless they're crossbreeds or you know the genetics of your hens and rooster. You can feather-sex crosses if the father is fast-feathering and the mother is slow-feathering, because it's a sex-linked trait. If that isn't the case, then feathering means nothing, despite what youtube videos would have you believe.

Extremely fast feathers or extremely slow feathers are almost always a sign of a rooster.

It has to do with double-factoring. The genes that control feathering speed are located on the Z chromosome (of which a male has two copies) A hen only has one Z chromosome, and One W chromosome. Therefore, a hen can only have one copy of the gene, but a rooster can have two.

When the rooster has two copies of a feather-speed gene, it's effects are increased. take k+ (rapid feathering.) The hens (k/-) will feather slower than the roosters (k/k.)

Sorry for the infodump.

Thanks SO much!!! i have 3 buff orps, they were all supposed to be pullets, but i got them from a feed store, but one feathered WAY faster than the others, and seems to have nice wattle growth and pink coloring and thicker legs, so would he/she (Tango) probably be a cockerel? i actually hope he is because NONE of our local feed stores carry strait run full size fowl.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I still think your BO (from your other post) looks female, but good luck all the same.

EDT: Oops. Mistaken thread. Yes, that sounds like a cockerel. Picture?

 

[drumstick diva]

Need good photos