How hard to feather sex a SLW and EE?

[DerbyGirlGoneChicken]

Hello all! I have been perusing this forum website for several years now. Just to educate myself and make sure I was ready to be a chicken owner! Well, we've finally taken the plunge. They are 2 days old today. We've purchased 7 chicks, though the city limits only permit 5. I wanted to make sure that I'd have females though so I bought a couple extra. No roosters allowed, obviously. So, I bought 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Black Sex Links, 1 Barred Rock, 1 SLW, and 1 "Americauna" aka EE (I realize they try to pass EEs off as Americauna).

I have tried my amateur eye at feather sexing them all. Tried the vent sexing but I don't know what I'm really looking at and didn't want to hurt their intestines so I stopped that quickly. The sex links are obviously females, the Buff and the Barred Rock look like females per their wing feather patterns. However, I'm having difficulty with the silver laced Wyandotte and the Easter Egger.

I think I may be deluding myself because I really want those two breeds so bad! But they seem to have the male pattern wings. All the same length. I have been ALL over the internet looking for sexing specifically for those two breeds, but there isn't much out there for them in particular. My question is, how hard is to feather sex those two breeds as opposed to other breeds? Are they as easy as an Orpington?



Silver Laced Wyandotte Chick 2 days old


SLW Wing


Americauna or Easter Egger??


Americauna or EE Wing

 

[QueenMisha]

Feather sexing is completely useless 95% of the time. Unless you can be absolutely certain that the mother was a slow-feathering strain of the breed and the father was fast-feathering (impossible to know unless you bred them yourself), it's as good as a coin toss.

It's an EE. Anything that wasn't purchased from an SOP breeder is going to be an Easter Egger.

 

[drumstick diva]

agree with Queen Misha

 

[DerbyGirlGoneChicken]

Thank you for your answer. Per the info that I've come across on the internet, they lead you to believe that you will know the sex by looking at the feathers. So, then the above birds could be female and I just need to be patient? I guess that I need to wait to see the comb, wattles, and tail feathers to be sure. At what point do you think that I'll be able to see these characteristics take shape? 4-5 weeks?

Is it typical for SLW's and EE's to be slower in feathering out? The other chicks have major growth on the wing feathers in just 2 days, as opposed to those two. Thanks again!

 

[QueenMisha]

Thank you for your answer. Per the info that I've come across on the internet, they lead you to believe that you will know the sex by looking at the feathers. So, then the above birds could be female and I just need to be patient? I guess that I need to wait to see the comb, wattles, and tail feathers to be sure.  At what point do you think that I'll be able to see these characteristics take shape? 4-5 weeks? 

Is it typical for SLW's and EE's to be slower in feathering out? The other chicks have major growth on the wing feathers in just 2 days, as opposed to those two. Thanks again!

There's really no way to know sex at this age unless they came sexed.

Wing growth will vary across breeds and individuals.

You'll be able to begin guessing at sex somewhere around 6-8 weeks, and you'll be able to tell for sure at 10-14 weeks. Comb and wattle, personality, size, and feet will be good characteristics to keep an eye on to start. Feather sexing via saddle feathers will be the sure way to know - females will never grow the long, sharp feathers of a cockerel. I've found hatchery Wyandottes actually feather in rather fast - the Golden's more than the Silver's, but both usually start to develop their saddles around 9-11 weeks. Easter Eggers on the other hand are quite hard to sex, and generally take forever to sex, developing their saddles around 12-14 weeks.