Orpingtons - when can you tell what sex they are?

[scoopy82]

Hi

I have 9 Buff Orpington chicks who are 4 and a half weeks old and I'm just wondering when they will start to show differences between the boys and girls?
Thanks

 

[UncleTommy]

mine showed within the first couple of weeks, combs are bigger on the roos and the pullets feather out quicker. I had to wait till about week 5 to be sure.

 

[scoopy82]

That makes sense as there are 4 that are fully feathered and 4 that are way behind and one in between. I did notice the combs on the fully feathered ones seemed smaller but only just. I hope the one in between is a girl too

I cant believe how solid they are at that age, must be good dual purpose birds, I wonder if I would be better off selling the roo's or eating them?

 

[UncleTommy]

oh they're fatties! I'm so bummed about losing my first batch to my sisters dogs....grrr

I had 2 hens and a roo there, this batch I have 3 roos and a hen

If they're a good stock you'd probably be better off selling them, or maybe trading a roo for another buff orp roo that isn't related.

 

[scoopy82]

They sure are

They look like little body builders compared to my Wheatan Maran chicks! They come from a good line here in Australia, so might try to sell them first, if that fails then I will figure out what to do. Just waiting for the day I can say 'Thats definitely a boy' and then they will be on the market!
Thats a real shame about losing your chickens, and thats the tricky part with breeding them - you never know what your going to end up with. I am going on luck as I have had 5 of the BO's pre ordered so I'm praying to god there are 5 girls, I can cope with 4 as the last lady said if there were any girls left over, but I would really like to have one for her, plus that would mean I only have 4 boys to worry about, I couldn't be that lucky could I???

 

[galanie]

Sometimes they can really fool you though. I had one my first hatch that I SWORE was a pullet. Had to be. Turned out to be a roo. You will get the occasional one like that. And don't depend on whether or not it grows it's tail in faster either. My first batch of 5, the one that grew it's tail in first turned out to be a roo, and the one who grew a tail last a pullet. On the last hatch though, I had one with waddles obviously showing at three weeks. In general you can sort of tell by 8 weeks, but like I said, they can fool you.