How To Sex A Chicken - Wisdom From An Old Timer

[cjwaldon]

You really discarded eggs because some gadget told you they were boys? And this gadget says you have only 2 boys out of 85 chicks? How old are these chicks and how did you verify the accuracy of this 'thingy'? Are the chicks grown out sufficiently to confirm gender, or did you vent sex them all? If this gadget is this accurate, I want one, too!

 

[CinnamonQueen]

Well it seems like nobody agrees. I personally might try it sometime.
We got 4 chicks 8 months ago. Two were RIR, one leghorn, and one supposedly Barred rock. We did nothing to sex them. Now i think the BR was a black sex link and we didn't do research on how all black sex link males are black with a white spot on their heads.

This "barred rock" began clucking earlier than the other three ladies and we heard 1/3 of a crow soon after. He was rehomed and we just learned that a predator got to him. For those first few weeks when they moved out side, they all could have been a rooster and it was crazy.
So, if it makes suspicious noises, has a more pronounced wattle/comb, and acts like a roo, it's probably a roo. Maybe. If it lays eggs, its a hen.
Good luck sexing.

 

[Connor99]

Dude or girl you answered the problem of my life thanks
poultry rock lol

 

[hipphopanimal]

Can anyone help me sex these little ones, Mo, Hawk and Snow are Silkies and Pip I a Serama

 

[Bellatrixed]

Your chicks are too young to sex. Silkies can't be feather sexed--no breed can unless it has specifically been bred for that trait. You really can't tell the gender on most breeds until they are a few months old and the roos start growing in spikey saddle feathers and get larger combs/wattles than the girls. Silkies though are especially hard to sex and it can be difficult to sex some for sure til they either start crowing or lay an egg.

 

[aggiemae]

You can sex a chick at days 1 & 2 after they hatch by checking their wing feathers. A pullet will have primary feathers longer then the coverts and a cockerel they will be the same length as the covert. Can only be done the first 2 days because after that they grow too fast.

We just got eight 20 hour old chicks and the breeder call later and told me that the two Copper Marans were not sexed (oops!) They both have the wing feathers that indicate they are hens but I can't seem to find out the method works on this breed....so I guess we use our usual method of waiting for the first egg.... or the first crow.

 

[deidreinwendell]

Could I do this with chicks that are a few weeks old?

 

[aggiemae]

Wing sexing is only accurate the first 1-2 days and only of certain breeds, alas NOT for BCM's the only only of this batch of chicks that were not sexed by the breeder.

 

[Luv-R-Chickens]

We tried it with the bantams and on all of them their legs hung down. So we have all pullets or this method does not work on bantams!?
So we will be trying this on our standard size chicks at next hatch. We will let you know.

 

[Bellatrixed]

This method doesn't work on anything!

I tried it a few times just for the heck of it right when I first got my chicks, and my chicks must be pretty gender confused. The same chicks kept alternating how they reacted. The only way to sex chicks is vent sexing, or else wait 1-3 months and identify the roos by their comb/wattle colors, posture, and feather growth.