Marans and Welsummer - Argentina Debut! gender pics

[Tamara119]

Hi all! I'm Canadian, living in Argentina, northwestern Patagonia. I recently brought Marans and Welsummer eggs from Canada and they hatched 9 days ago! As far as I know, this is the first of these breeds in the country! Alas, only one of the Welsummer eggs hatched, but I have 4 perfect little BCMs. I will be bringing another batch with more Welsummers next time. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure the Wellie is a girl, and that there are 2 male BCMs and 2 females. Can anyone with more experience with these breeds confirm this? I'm least sure of chick #3. Here are pics:

Chick 1 (male?):








Chick 2 (female?):










Chick 3 (male?):








Chick 4 (female?):








And the Welsummer (female?):








The hen has been terrific, except for kicking dirt on them all the time! (But they're awfully cute when covered in dirt!):




Thanks for feedback,
Tamara

 

[BantamLover21]

Its a bit too young to tell for sure; I would recommend posting new photos in 3-4 weeks. However, I'm pretty sure that chick#4 and chick#2 are females. #1 and #4 could be females, too, but their combs are looking more cockerel-like right now. I'm going to say that your Welsummer is a pullet, but it really is too young to know. They're adorable!

 

[Tamara119]

Thanks! I figured that the comb differences were pretty significant, enough to make a reasonable guess as to their sex. I really want both, so 2 and 2 is fine with me! I heard that for Wellies, the more distinct the eye stripe and V on their heads, the more likely to be female? Is that true? At any rate, I'm planning to take more pics as they mature.

 

[RhapsodyOwens]

Welsummer is definitely female. The "eyeliner" on males are much less distinct, as is the triangle shape on the head. With as clearly defined as that chick's are, you have a female

 

[Tamara119]

Woohoo! It'll be many months before I can get more Welsummer eggs, so I'm sure glad that it's female!

 

[DallasCriftins]

Yep your Wellie is a hen.
Here's mine we called her Cleo, sadly at 14 weeks old I trod on her whilst opening the field gate and I broke her foot - she never recovered




we also hatched this one from a dark brown welsummer egg, it looked like a blond Welsummer but it is not and we have no idea what the father was as it is now looking very much like a large light Sussex but is bigger than our similar aged Orpington pullets!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I agree the Wellie is definitely female for the color patterning (eyeliner, head triangle, stripe from head, down neck, down back).

It is way to soon to tell on the BCM's as they are not sex linked by color. Yeah, some of them show a little more comb right now, but at 9 days that may not mean anything.

Keep watching. The roo's will get large and red combs faster while the girls will feather faster and their combs stay small and yellow.

Post photos of BCM's in a few more weeks.

Lady of McCamley

 

[Tamara119]

Thanks for the pics! She's been feathering out quite quickly, and she's looking good. The marans are feathering really slowly, so I'll wait a while yet and then take more pics for comparison.

 

[Tamara119]

Ok, they are now 4.5 weeks old. Unfortunately, chick#3 disappeared one night, I think a hawk or cat got him. The chicks sometimes leave the nest box in the evening, but the mother stays on the nest and the adults are all above in the coop, so after losing the chick I put a cage around their nest box so if they leave on their own in the evening they are safely contained. In the morning I let them all out together. Anyhow, I'm sure chick#1 is male, and chick#2 is female. I'm still not sure about chick#4. These chicks are not full genetic siblings; they came from a man who has about 10 BCM hens and 4 roos all together. This may mean that comparing their growth and feathering rates isn't very accurate. Chick#1 has the largest feet, and the feet of #2 and #4 are about the same, but #4 has slightly thicker legs. Anyone think that chick#4 is female (I've put in extra pics of this chick)?

Chick #1:










Chick #2:










Chick #4:














Here they are all together, from left to right #2, #1, #4. It's hard to see #2's comb, but you can compare #1 and #4 pretty well.



And the welsummer!

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm sorry for the loss of #3. I think #1 is a cockerel, but #2 and #4 are pullets.