Gender of Welsummer and Cuckoo Marans chicks Please?

[SavorChick]

Gender of Welsummer and Cuckoo Marans chicks Please? TIA

 

[SavorChick]

Btw, they are two weeks old.

 

[popsicle]

I'd say it's bad timing for the two breeds. At hatch is the best time to try and sex the birds by head-spot or stripe-color. Even then, I doubt the hatcheries rely on color sexing either breed (but what do I know?).

It looks like you might have one cuckoo Marans cockerel--the one with the brighter white barring.

 

[SavorChick]

I'd say it's bad timing for the two breeds. At hatch is the best time to try and sex the birds by head-spot or stripe-color. Even then, I doubt the hatcheries rely on color sexing either breed (but what do I know?).

It looks like you might have one cuckoo Marans cockerel--the one with the brighter white barring.

Thanks.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

You can't sex Cuckoo Marans chicks reliably by head dot or coloring. They are not a true autosexing breed. If lines are controlled (most hatchery are not), by 3 or 4 days time, the females should look darker than the males. Time will tell more reliably by the comb development. Roos will develop larger red combs early, often telecasting very early by week 4. Eventually you should see the females look overall darker (single cuckoo barring) than the lighter males (double cuckoo barring).

Welsummers should be autosexing, but hatchery quality are often not. Any Welsummer that has a clear eyeliner and triangle on the head with a full stripe from head to tail, no breaks, should be female. Males have pale to no eye liner, no clear crisp head triangle, more of a brownish splotch on the head, and there is a break in stripe at the neck. HOWEVER, hatchery quality often are not bred for SOP but productivity, so it may be unreliable to depend on the autosexing in a hatchery quality Welsummer.

Welsummer females will develop a salmon chest as they mature while males will develop a black chest. The females and males are distinctly different in adult patterning.

Nothing is screaming roo at this point. One Welsummer looks to have pale eyeliner, but it's hard to see in your photos. All Cuckoos look equally dark. Again, if this is hatchery quality, you may have to wait another couple of weeks for salmon chests to start growing in and comb to begin to develop.

LofMc

 

[SavorChick]

You can't sex Cuckoo Marans chicks reliably by head dot or coloring. They are not a true autosexing breed. If lines are controlled (most hatchery are not), by 3 or 4 days time, the females should look darker than the males. Time will tell more reliably by the comb development. Roos will develop larger red combs early, often telecasting very early by week 4. Eventually you should see the females look overall darker (single cuckoo barring) than the lighter males (double cuckoo barring).

Welsummers should be autosexing, but hatchery quality are often not. Any Welsummer that has a clear eyeliner and triangle on the head with a full stripe from head to tail, no breaks, should be female. Males have pale to no eye liner, no clear crisp head triangle, more of a brownish splotch on the head, and there is a break in stripe at the neck. HOWEVER, hatchery quality often are not bred for SOP but productivity, so it may be unreliable to depend on the autosexing in a hatchery quality Welsummer.

Welsummer females will develop a salmon chest as they mature while males will develop a black chest. The females and males are distinctly different in adult patterning.

Nothing is screaming roo at this point. One Welsummer looks to have pale eyeliner, but it's hard to see in your photos. All Cuckoos look equally dark. Again, if this is hatchery quality, you may have to wait another couple of weeks for salmon chests to start growing in and comb to begin to develop.

LofMc

Thanks for the thorough instruction. They are from Privett Hatchery and we are hoping to score some dark eggs from them.

 

[Michael OShay]

You can't sex Cuckoo Marans chicks reliably by head dot or coloring. They are not a true autosexing breed. If lines are controlled (most hatchery are not), by 3 or 4 days time, the females should look darker than the males. Time will tell more reliably by the comb development. Roos will develop larger red combs early, often telecasting very early by week 4. Eventually you should see the females look overall darker (single cuckoo barring) than the lighter males (double cuckoo barring).

Welsummers should be autosexing, but hatchery quality are often not. Any Welsummer that has a clear eyeliner and triangle on the head with a full stripe from head to tail, no breaks, should be female. Males have pale to no eye liner, no clear crisp head triangle, more of a brownish splotch on the head, and there is a break in stripe at the neck. HOWEVER, hatchery quality often are not bred for SOP but productivity, so it may be unreliable to depend on the autosexing in a hatchery quality Welsummer.

Welsummer females will develop a salmon chest as they mature while males will develop a black chest. The females and males are distinctly different in adult patterning.

Nothing is screaming roo at this point. One Welsummer looks to have pale eyeliner, but it's hard to see in your photos. All Cuckoos look equally dark. Again, if this is hatchery quality, you may have to wait another couple of weeks for salmon chests to start growing in and comb to begin to develop.

LofMc

X2 on LofMc's post.

 

[drumstick diva]

X 3

 

[SavorChick]

X2 on LofMc's post.

X 3

 

[SavorChick]

They are 5 weeks old now. Suspicious of one in particular.


The comb looks pinker than any others.


Here is another angle.


Same chick at top.


And again at bottom.