Help me sex my chicks!

[Pyxis]

Hmmm... but, all my chicks are either black or barred. The barred ones would be males, right? But what about if they came from the black hen? Or would the black hen produce black chicks because black is dominant.
Any pullets coming from the barred hen would be black, due to sex linked right?
@Alaskan @junebuggena @Ravynscroft

You can only get barred pullets from a barred rooster. Since your rooster is not barred, there is no way to get any barred pullets from either the black hens or the barred hens. You won't get any barred offspring at all from the black hens since your rooster is not barred. The black hens won't produce any kind of sex linked offspring, so you cannot sex them at hatch.

So yes, the barred ones are males. The black ones are either females or males, no way to tell without knowing for sure what hen was their mother.

If you were to get rid of the solid black hens and only keep the barred ones, then you would know for sure that any chicks that hatch barred are males and any that hatch non-barred are females. With the solid black hens, you can't tell which hen was the mother of the black chicks, so you can't know whether they are sex linked or not.

Yes, sex linked pullets from the barred hens will be black, possibly with some color leakage as well when they are older.

 

[junebuggena]

Hmmm... but, all my chicks are either black or barred. The barred ones would be males, right? But what about if they came from the black hen? Or would the black hen produce black chicks because black is dominant.
Any pullets coming from the barred hen would be black, due to sex linked right?
@Alaskan @junebuggena @Ravynscroft

Correct. Which is why you can't assume that all the black chicks are female. You may have a black cockerel or two from the black hen.

 

[Welshies]

You can only get barred pullets from a barred rooster. Since your rooster is not barred, there is no way to get any barred pullets from either the black hens or the barred hens. You won't get any barred offspring at all from the black hens since your rooster is not barred. The black hens won't produce any kind of sex linked offspring, so you cannot sex them at hatch.

So yes, the barred ones are males. The black ones are either females or males, no way to tell without knowing for sure what hen was their mother.

If you were to get rid of the solid black hens and only keep the barred ones, then you would know for sure that any chicks that hatch barred are males and any that hatch non-barred are females. With the solid black hens, you can't tell which hen was the mother of the black chicks, so you can't know whether they are sex linked or not.

Yes, sex linked pullets from the barred hens will be black, possibly with some color leakage as well when they are older.

Yes one currently (Tip) has color leakage. A bit of rusty color on her black feathers.
This is really interesting actually.
My hens all lay nice brown eggs but there's always one egg that is darker, and speckled slightly too. Would this be the kind of egg a black hen would lay?

 

[Welshies]

Correct. Which is why you can't assume that all the black chicks are female. You may have a black cockerel or two from the black hen.

But if the black hen was not bred, then I could?

 

[Pyxis]

But if the black hen was not bred, then I could?

Yes, if you got rid of the black hens, all the offspring would be sex links and you could know the gender of all the chicks at hatch.

 

[Welshies]

Yes, if you got rid of the black hens, all the offspring would be sex links and you could know the gender of all the chicks at hatch.

Hmmm. I'm wondering if there's a way to not get rid of her, just get rid of her offspring. She is a great broody. If I could tell what eggs she laid, then perhaps that would work? I always have had one hen laying darker brown, slightly speckled eggs compared to the rest. You think this could be her or no way to tell?

 

[Welshies]

Also what is the easiest way to identify a cockerel at this age (from black hen)? Wattles?

 

[Pyxis]

Hmmm. I'm wondering if there's a way to not get rid of her, just get rid of her offspring. She is a great broody. If I could tell what eggs she laid, then perhaps that would work? I always have had one hen laying darker brown, slightly speckled eggs compared to the rest. You think this could be her or no way to tell?

If you could know what eggs she was laying and simply not hatch them, then yes, that would work. You could either mark her vent with food coloring (which would have to be done every couple of days) or try trap nesting. If you mark her vent and it turns out that she is the one that is laying the differently colored eggs, that would make things easier for you.

 

[Welshies]

If you could know what eggs she was laying and simply not hatch them, then yes, that would work. You could either mark her vent with food coloring (which would have to be done every couple of days) or try trap nesting. If you mark her vent and it turns out that she is the one that is laying the differently colored eggs, that would make things easier for you.

Trap nesting?

 

[Pyxis]

Trap nesting?

https://www.strombergschickens.com/product/Chicken-Nest-Trap/Economical-Nest-Boxes