Help sex some 6 week old chicks :)

[rdilbarova]

So I have 14 chicks sexed as pullets by Murray McMurray. I have some I am 'iffy' about and I suspect that they are roosters. This was a quick photoshoot, I can provide more pictures if needed for a better answer. I know it is a little early, just wanted to see what you guys would say! SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE, CLOSER PICTURES that were added in a later post.

chick #1- delaware


chick #2- RIR







chick #3- easter egger









chick #4- golden campine (i think- she/he came as my 'mystery chick' from the hatchery)







and finally chick #5- black australorp (just for fun- he is my most obvious little man)





Any opinions welcome

 

[CowGrrrl]

The Rhode Island Red and Easter Egger are definite cockerels. I also believe the Black Australorp is too.

 

[rdilbarova]

The Rhode Island Red and Easter Egger are definite cockerels. I also believe the Black Australorp is too.

What makes you say that? (just wondering) The EE sent up a red flag for me because of the tail, but does that even matter at this age?

 

[CowGrrrl]

Quote: Easter Eggers can be sexed by their color. Cockerels and roosters have more splotchy coloration that females. And the Rhode Island Red is getting a big red comb early on in life and I see saddle feathers on his back. And the Black Australorp has a huge red comb for his age which screams "rooster!"

 

[Kelsie2290]

The BA looks like a boy, the EE is weird, on two of the pictures I would vote boy the other two girl.

 

[rdilbarova]

Here are some up close pictures:

EE:








Campine:





RIR:








And Delaware:








The reason I am unsure about the RIR is because it was the second fastest to feather, and I know boys go slower. The campine was the third fastest.

 

[rdilbarova]

Easter Eggers can be sexed by their color. Cockerels and roosters have more splotchy coloration that females. And the Rhode Island Red is getting a big red comb early on in life and I see saddle feathers on his back. And the Black Australorp has a huge red comb for his age which screams "rooster!"

Interesting! And LOL the BA I just threw in for fun. As for the RIR, s/he was one of the quickest to feather out, which is why I am unsure.

The BA looks like a boy, the EE is weird, on two of the pictures I would vote boy the other two girl.

Weird! Thanks

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hey, it is an Easter Egger, they are all weird, or unique, OK, unique is a better word. In those pictures it does look more like a boy with the darker red patches showing up, but they are farther down the wing and more even than usual to me. The RIR's comb and wattles aren't screaming roo for a six week old RIR yet, they have some size to them but not enough to make me commit to roo, have you checked under the feathers near the tail for saddle feathers coming in? You can usually see the little pointy ones coming in on roos before they really photograph well. Besides the BA the rest still look like girls to me, they are sort of at that in between stage where the early roos like that BA are obvious but you can still have hidden ones. Have to say of those breeds the delawares seem to fool me the most. McMurray usually does a pretty good job of sexing chicks, so I am surprised you may have this many wrong out of 14, are you sure they sent you sexed pullets and not straight run?

 

[rdilbarova]

Hey, it is an Easter Egger, they are all weird, or unique, OK, unique is a better word. In those pictures it does look more like a boy with the darker red patches showing up, but they are farther down the wing and more even than usual to me. The RIR's comb and wattles aren't screaming roo for a six week old RIR yet, they have some size to them but not enough to make me commit to roo, have you checked under the feathers near the tail for saddle feathers coming in? You can usually see the little pointy ones coming in on roos before they really photograph well. Besides the BA the rest still look like girls to me, they are sort of at that in between stage where the early roos like that BA are obvious but you can still have hidden ones. Have to say of those breeds the delawares seem to fool me the most. McMurray usually does a pretty good job of sexing chicks, so I am surprised you may have this many wrong out of 14, are you sure they sent you sexed pullets and not straight run?

Yupp, I paid extra for the girls and everything. I also had another chick who I knew was a boy (a little barred rock) but he was recently taken by a hawk. So that would have added another mistake for them.

 

[Kelsie2290]

I would give it a couple of weeks to be sure about the sexes then email/call them and complain about the roos, it really almost seems like they sent you straight run on some breeds or something instead of sexed pullets. With the BR and BA you have at least two wrong and a good chance there may be more. Even if the price difference refund will only be a couple of dollars, they should at least know they need to pay more attention, or yell at their packers and/or chick sexers to do a better job.