Leghorn Sexing Questions and is this Chick Deformed?

[SASnCoBYC]

HI All! I took in 6 leghorn chicks that were hatched in an elementary classroom some time last week. The chicks were brought to me Monday evening this week so they are about 9-11 days old today I guess and I noticed a couple are developing combs already as of today. 3 have long well developed wing and tail feathers and 2 have much shorter wing feathers and no tail feathers and then there is one who seemed a bit under developed and had nubby wings that are just starting to get some wing feathers (we are calling this one Kiwi since it's wings were nubs compared to the others when we got them).

I was curious about the significant differences in development and found this thread from a while back: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sexing-white-leghorns.96292/. Am I understanding it correctly that female Leghorns feather out faster than the males? Do the female combs come in faster too because the ones with the more developed feathers have more noticeable combs than the other 3? Or do the males get combs faster?

1st pic is from yesterday. From left to right Chick 1, 3 & 6 Fem? 4,5 Male? Kiwi is #2 admiring itself in the mirror. What do you all think about it's wings. Pics of Kiwi from day we got them. Do the wings look normal? Was also very small compared to others. I think the teacher actually helped Kiwi hatch because s/he was struggling to break out of its shell.

We have 22 chicks in various stages at this point. Is that enough to support more than one roo? I've been told leghorns aren't great for eating, but if we have more than 3 roos I will consider that option if one can't be rehomed. So not wanting to get too attached to these, but they're so stinking cute and much friendlier than I expected for this breed.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

@The Moonshiner

 

[The Moonshiner]

That thread was ridiculous.
You can not sex leghorns by feather growth rate.
Some feather in a little faster then others and that's both sexes.
Think about it. They're a fast feathering breed and feather rate gene is sex linked. Males have two copies but females only have one.
Why would females feather in faster?
Watch the combs. Bigger and pink by 3 or 4 weeks mean cockerel.

 

[SASnCoBYC]

That thread was ridiculous.
You can not sex leghorns by feather growth rate.
Some feather in a little faster then others and that's both sexes.
Think about it. They're a fast feathering breed and feather rate gene is sex linked. Males have two copies but females only have one.
Why would females feather in faster?
Watch the combs. Bigger and pink by 3 or 4 weeks mean cockerel.

I was doing a quick search on my lunch hour and that came up in a googIe search. I don't know anything about the breed nor have I tried to wrap my head around all the sex linked traits of specific breeds. So was hoping to get some clarity. Wasn't planning to raise any leghorns, but ended up with them, and was just trying to understand if there's a reason for the significant difference in feather development if they were from the same hatch. I don't know which chicks hatched first, should I just assume the ones with more feathers are a day or so ahead? I guess my main concern is the one that is really behind the others. Are the wings normal and it's just a bit behind the others or does it have a development issue? It has spunk whatever it is.

All my other chicks, which I purchased, are supposed to be pullets and they all seemed to feather similarly despite being various breeds. This is the first group I'm brooding where there is a good probability that some are going to be cockerels. I mean do people ever hatch chicks and end up with all one sex? Even if it's possible, wouldn't expect that to happen with a classroom project. If the thread I found isn't good info, someone who knows should post something so people trying to learn don't get mislead. Thanks for the response. I snooped your page, I see you know a thing or two about Leghorns.

 

[JesusisGod]

HI All! I took in 6 leghorn chicks that were hatched in an elementary classroom some time last week. The chicks were brought to me Monday evening this week so they are about 9-11 days old today I guess and I noticed a couple are developing combs already as of today. 3 have long well developed wing and tail feathers and 2 have much shorter wing feathers and no tail feathers and then there is one who seemed a bit under developed and had nubby wings that are just starting to get some wing feathers (we are calling this one Kiwi since it's wings were nubs compared to the others when we got them).

I was curious about the significant differences in development and found this thread from a while back: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sexing-white-leghorns.96292/. Am I understanding it correctly that female Leghorns feather out faster than the males? Do the female combs come in faster too because the ones with the more developed feathers have more noticeable combs than the other 3? Or do the males get combs faster?

1st pic is from yesterday. From left to right Chick 1, 3 & 6 Fem? 4,5 Male? Kiwi is #2 admiring itself in the mirror. What do you all think about it's wings. Pics of Kiwi from day we got them. Do the wings look normal? Was also very small compared to others. I think the teacher actually helped Kiwi hatch because s/he was struggling to break out of its shell.

We have 22 chicks in various stages at this point. Is that enough to support more than one roo? I've been told leghorns aren't great for eating, but if we have more than 3 roos I will consider that option if one can't be rehomed. So not wanting to get too attached to these, but they're so stinking cute and much friendlier than I expected for this breed.
View attachment 2654887View attachment 2654898View attachment 2654899

Was it a boy

 

[SASnCoBYC]

Was it a boy

we ended up with 5 boys and one girl. i believe it did end up being a boy.