My Babies are Getting Tail Feathers Already. Are they girls?

[Bantam Username]

My 3 babies hatched on the 12th and the 13th, just a couple of days ago, already they have long wing pins and 2 of them are getting tail feathers growing in aswell. Does that mean the 2 are girls?

I'm sure I read somewhere on here that hens tend to grow tail feathers early and roos are tailless for a lot longer.

 

[Jloeffler]

I'm not sure, but I've been watching a similar phenomenon with my chicks. They hatched Labor Day and some have tail feathers while others don't!

 

[KDailey]

It's not a "for sure" thing but most of my chicks that feathered out quickly did turn out to be female. Except for the bantam OE/Serama/Phoenix mixes. They all feathered in very quickly and most were boys. Go figure

 

[Bantam Username]

Mine are lavender dutch bantams, I just thought I'd read about the tail feather thing somewhere on here but couldn't find the thread.

 

[teach1rusl]

In many breeds, males do feather out slower. But that's also breed dependent, and it's certainly not 100%. Thick legs is another fairly early indicator. Body carriage can often tell too, holding themselves more horizontal (hennish) vs. vertical.

 

[hennyannie]

It's encouraging to me if you are seeing alot of differance in those 2 verses the 3rd chick.Most of my roos didnt get alot of feathers till much later than the pullets.

 

[ceeceeholt]

I wonder what they will turn out to be as well. I have too cukoo marans mix and one got tail feathers after a week and it wasn't until 2 weeks plus the other one started to get them. I call them Ike and Tina one was all black with a white belly and the other had a white spot on his head. I do however now think they are both hens, but time will tell. They are from the same hatch and one already (Tina) has the barring of the cuckoo and the other is coming in black and copper! So pretty!

any times a good time to share baby pics