Gender???

[AmyP716]

Oh ok thanks.

 

[AmyP716]

The other one is getting cream/peachy feathers on the neck.

 

[Birdrain92]

This is Blue.

The other one is getting cream/peachy feathers on the neck.

Black Shoulders do that. I believe it is around 2 months old you will be able to tell the difference between the sexes for Black Shoulders. Rather that Black will progress more across the wing or it will keep a gray wing. It the wing doesn't get any more Black and just stays gray then it's probably a hen then.

 

[AmyP716]

Oh ok. Your bird is so pretty.

 

[Birdrain92]

Thank you!

 

[DylansMom]

Here's an update on my peachicks. The brown one has green feathers coming in on his neck.

Indian Blue (the brown one) looks like a male. Is he around 1 or 2 months old? My chicks that are one month old have a little bit of color but my two month old male has a blue neck already. I'm assuming the Black Shoulder is around the same age. I think it's a male since I can see some Black feathers coming in up toward the top of the shoulder.

Hate to have to disagree here, but that "brown" one looks like an India Blue hen to me.

I would actually say "hen" on both.

 

[AmyP716]

Dylansmom what do you see on the brown one that makes you think hen? I just have no idea. They all just look the same to me. They seem to be just as confusing as silkies. Or maybe it's just cause these are my first ones.

 

[DylansMom]

Dylansmom what do you see on the brown one that makes you think hen? I just have no idea. They all just look the same to me. They seem to be just as confusing as silkies. Or maybe it's just cause these are my first ones.

To me each successive photo seems to show less striping, this is what happens on hens, the striped feathers are slowly replaced with solid brown ones, while on males the stripes become more pronounced. Also the primary wing feathers on the very edge of the wings are reddish on males and they become dark brown on hens. If you look at Birdrain's male in the pictures above, you can just see these reddish feathers peaking out under the striped ones. On your bird these look more brown to me than red and that makes me think hen. I also think the chest feathers are starting to get a "fish scale" looking pattern, this is a female trait as the neck feathers are green, with a cream colored edge on each one. This is just my opinion though.

 

[AmyP716]

Ok thank you for the information. I'm trying to understand what I need to look for. I will look at him/her more closely tonight.

 

[Birdrain92]

Ok thank you for the information. I'm trying to understand what I need to look for. I will look at him/her more closely tonight.

If it's an Indian Blue look for barring on the shoulder and color coming onto the head. If it's a Spalding you will have to guess. Spalding hens can have a little bit of barring like my hen.

The hen up front is a Spalding split to White. See how she has some barring on the wing, color on the head, and buff color lacing on the breast feathers. This hen though I think is a 50% Spalding.

These are three week old chicks. Female is in the back. Dark brown feathers, male is upfront with bright rusty orange color with clear barring.

These two are males that are 7 weeks almost 2 months old.

Both male chicks with mom. I'll try to get some new photos because these guys are starting to get more color.