neck feather sexing method..

[naightengale]

ok so in one of my many googles to figure out which sexes my rir were (before i found this site) i found a article about looking at the neck feathers of juvy chickens to tell the sex. pointed feathers rooster rounded hen....
i tryed it out on my known chickens and it seemed acurate.... all my roosters have points and all the hens have rounded.. didnt work too well on the fluffy silkys.
any one else tryed this anyone know this method ????
how acurate is it??? ive had several people say my hens are roos..and i used this method to sex them.....

 

[Pele]

It's accurate, but the pointed feathers are a characteristic that generally are one of the last 'male' things to develop. You'll be able to see behavior, posture, feather coloration, comb & wattle development all before the pointed feathers come in.

 

[MalMom]

It didn't work for me. I was sure I had a roo as one of my chickens had really pointy neck feathers that were much thinner than my pullets. Everyone here said it was still a pullet, but I didn't believe them. Well, it lays eggs so I guess it's a pullet. lol

 

[donrae]

Thing is, you have to be sure you're really looking at the shape of the feather itself and not get distracted by lacing or other misleading color on the feather. Lots of hens, like a lot of Easter eggers, look like they have pointy feathers due to the color. When you look at the feather itself, it's rounded. Some folks advise putting a sheet of paper under the feather so you're not as distracted.

As Pele said, a trained eye can usually tell gender long before hackle (that's what the neck feathers are called) feathers come in. Often they don't really develop until 4 months, and by then gender is usually apparent by comb, body color, leg size, etc.

 

[naightengale]

ok so these are some of the chicks in question...variying ages if you can guess that too great also 4 of them are unknown breed and size (stand/bant) the others are suppost to be production reds are they?? i have said they are all hens but 1. useing the neck feathers with paper under to see the true shape.


this little one has since grown some more feathers on its neck...got it this way

 

[donrae]

I see a couple males, but only one old enough to have sex feathers.
1--male. too young for sex feathers, but too much comb for size
2--eh. Knowing age would help, there looks to be a fair amount of comb, but not positive on gender yet. Repost in 4ish weeks
3--can't tell.
4--looks female but really need better pic
5--looks female
6--this one is all boy. You can see pointed saddle feathers hanging down in front of his tail, and some hackle feathers starting also. Plus, that big ol comb!
7--probably female
8--getting a rooster vibe but need better pic and age
not doing the pics with multiple birds
11--female