How soon will I know?

[mikenandrea]

Was curious to know how soon I would be able to determine the sexes of my chickens?

 

[RAWR]

well, it kinda depends on the breeds
in some breeds you can look at they're feathers and tell

 

[mikenandrea]

kewl!.. So I have polish and wlsummers.. how can I tell? Is this information somewhere?

 

[gritsar]

In alot of the more common breeds the secondary sex characteristics start showing up between four and six weeks, but it can still be hard if you don't have two of the same breed to compare.

 

[RAWR]

Quote:
very true

 

[gritsar]

Here's a checklist that I found very helpful when sexing my chickens as youngin's:

According to UC Davis Veterinary Care Program.
2. Physical Characteristics (4-6 weeks of age)
a. Comb – The cockerels comb is medium size and pinkish, the pullets is small and yellowish.
b. Legs – The cockerel’s legs are sturdy and long, the pullets are finer and shorter.
c. Tail – The cockerel’s tail is stumpy and curved, the pullets is longer and straight.
d. Back – The cockerel has a thin line of stub feathers down the center of his back, the pullet has more advanced feathering along the center of her back.
e. Side of neck, flank and crop – The feathering in the cockerel in these areas is poorly advanced, the pullets feathering in these areas is well advanced.
f. Wing bows – In the cockerel the wing bows are bare, in pullets the wing bows are covered with small feathers.

 

[obe10]

well i have 4, 3 week old polish and all i know is there is one roo in the bunch i think i can tell which one he is but you can't be sure until about 5 or 6 weeks that is when there combs, wattles, and tail feathers will start developing more then a hens soon after that they prob. start trying to crow

 

[RAWR]

Quote:
i wish i would have had that when my chicks where younger lol

 

[Hilltopper46]

This is our Welsummer roo at about 4 weeks (the one in the back). In addition to the comb that is beginning to develop notice the bars on his shoulders. The pullets didn't have this - they were all dark without the light and dark pattern. Since then those bars have taken over the lighter color as he feathered out and he is much darker across the shoulders. However, the pullets have a golden brown mantle down the neck onto the shoulders that he doesn't have.

Hoping this helps.