how early can you tell....

[Darklingstorm]

I got 7 chicks that are now 5 weeks old. Of these three are black Maran chicks, I can tell that I have 2 pullets and 1 cockerel. I have 2 California whites that look to be pullets too. The last two are buff orpington chicks. One has always been larger than any of the other chicks but it's comb and wattle are not big and red like the maran cockerel's is.

When can you tell when a buff orpington is a boy or a girl?

 

[galanie]

Orps will give you fits sometimes trying to decide whether they are roos or not. Generally if you don't see any red around the eyes or on the comb by 6 weeks then it's a hen. But sometimes you just have to wait until it either crows or lays!