New and needing help

Athiena14

Crowing
7 Years
Feb 23, 2018
1,262
1,233
301
St. Robert MO
So I bought this little guy? Along with 2 others to replace a few that hadn't hatched. Its supposed to be 3 weeks on Monday but is smaller than my two week olds which are the jumbo. Any clue on if male or female by feathers and what breed? It was in a mix flock and the two others where tuxedos
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First off, welcome. Glad you're here.

To determine the sex of a chicken it will need to be older than 2-3 weeks USUALLY. There are some breeds that are sex links, so you can sex them at birth by their coloring, but even that only lasts a few days before the coloring disappears, and then you have to wait until their saddle feathers and other things start to show (or not) before sex can be determined.

PS. Love the jammies!!!
 
Welcome to BYC!

Coturnix quail that are solid brown like your picture can't be sexed by feather color or markings. The boys look exactly the same as the girls. You will have to wait until it is a little more mature, closer to 6-8 weeks to be able to either vent sex or have it display male or female behavior. To vent sex you hold the bird gently upside down so you can see the vent, then feel for a small bump next to the vent towards the tail side. If you can feel a bump there and gently press on it and white foam comes out the vent it's a boy. If there is no bump or foam, it is a girl.

I've had boys start crowing as early as 5 weeks, and girls start laying as early as 7 weeks, but individual birds vary. I had one hatch where I separated the boys out as soon as I could tell their gender, and there were some that were way on the early side, and a few others took till week 9 to start acting like boys and crowing.
 
Yes, the traditional Pharaoh coloring, whether they are jumbo or regular size, you can tell the boys from the girls by the chest feathers. The female will have a lighter background with spots or check marks and the male will have a solid colored almost orange chest.
 

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