Male and Female Specific Feather Patterns in Chicks? Examples?

[RememberTheWay]

I have seen several people talk about male and female Specific Feathering for various different colors/varieties. Can some show me examples of all the different things that would immediately point to a male or a female when a chick starts to feather out? I'm more curious then anything and would like to expand my knowledge base so I know for sure whether a chick is male or female based on the feathering.

 

[Rock17]

Cream legbar cocks are much lighter than the females. The females are more of a chipmunk colour

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Red patches on shoulders is almost always male. Same with solid black chests in a duckling pattern

 

[RememberTheWay]

Cream legbar cocks are much lighter than the females. The females are more of a chipmunk colour

Yes but what I was specifically talking about was when people ask is this chick M/F? And someone says it's definitely male because it has black breast feathers, or female because it red breast, etc- I would love to know what all the different things that are gender specific and see examples.

 

[AusHen]

There are a few breeds/colours that can be sexed via first chick feathers. Duckwing varieties would feather in like your example, black breast for cockerels and brown for pullets. Wheaten is another example of female/male specific colouring

 

[WingItRanch]

Here's a visual example for you. These are Easter Eggers. Granted, they can all look completely different because they are mixes but in this example, I had 2 EEs that looked identical at birth. Same exact coloring. Once they started feathering out, around 6 weeks old, the cockerel was evident. Here they are side by side. The cockerel was not as even-patterned and had red feathers developing on his shoulder. He looks almost splotchy in comparison to the female. This is just one example but I hope it helps!

 

[RememberTheWay]

Here's a visual example for you. These are Easter Eggers. Granted, they can all look completely different because they are mixes but in this example, I had 2 EEs that looked identical at birth. Same exact coloring. Once they started feathering out, around 6 weeks old, the cockerel was evident. Here they are side by side. The cockerel was not as even-patterned and had red feathers developing on his shoulder. He looks almost splotchy in comparison to the female. This is just one example but I hope it helps!

YES!!! This is exactly the kind of things I was looking for! Lol - so does this apply to any color or only certain colors? That red leakage on the wing bows would indicate make only? I knew I have seen people post similar comments even on mixed breed chicks and was hoping to find a comprehensive list on what to look for that is always indicative of one sex or the other.

Thanks a million! This really helped!

 

[WingItRanch]

YES!!! This is exactly the kind of things I was looking for! Lol - so does this apply to any color or only certain colors? That red leakage on the wing bows would indicate make only? I knew I have seen people post similar comments even on mixed breed chicks and was hoping to find a comprehensive list on what to look for that is always indicative of one sex or the other.

Thanks a million! This really helped!

I don't know what other breeds have the red/rust leakage to indicate male but it is common in Easter Eggers and something to look out for when determining a cockerel.

Another breed that's usually easy to determine gender based on feather color is the Plymouth Barred Rock. The males have double white barring. So a female would have black, white, black white pattern in their bars... but a male would have black, white, white, black, white, white. They would look almost grey. I don't have a personal example of this because all mine were girls. No cockerel.

I would love for there to be a list but I haven't found one. The best I've been learning is by watching BYC for new posts and seeing how other experts advise others. If you're keeping notes, you could maybe write an article on specific examples!

 

[everyday_farmlife]

This may not be what you are asking but Down here (Australia) most pure lines of heritage breeds have the slow feathering gene, meaning at the 3 to 4 week old mark when they start to feather in, the males will have bald shoulders and no or very short pin feather tails, while the girls will be almost completely feathered. I will see if I can find pictures from last year. If not I'll get some in a few weeks, first batch due to hatch next weekend.

 

[RememberTheWay]

I don't know what other breeds have the red/rust leakage to indicate male but it is common in Easter Eggers and something to look out for when determining a cockerel.

Another breed that's usually easy to determine gender based on feather color is the Plymouth Barred Rock. The males have double white barring. So a female would have black, white, black white pattern in their bars... but a male would have black, white, white, black, white, white. They would look almost grey. I don't have a personal example of this because all mine were girls. No cockerel.

I would love for there to be a list but I haven't found one. The best I've been learning is by watching BYC for new posts and seeing how other experts advise others. If you're keeping notes, you could maybe write an article on specific examples!

I do bookmark posts all the time. Not necessarily pertaining to this topic but I could definitely start! Maybe even speak with Sigrid van dort on fb too a generic expert?