Please Help! Wyandotte Chick Sexing

[bellz15]

I have a pair of gold and silver laced wyandottes which are around 4 weeks old! I've been wanting to make this post for a while, but I know wyandottes are notoriously difficult to sex early so I made myself be patient. I think the consensus will be that it's still too early to tell, which is why I hope to update this as they get a bit older. I really need them to be hens if they are going to stay here. That's the short story so feel free to head straight to the pictures, otherwise here's the long story;

My uncle has a farm and we were lucky enough to take a couple of pullets home for egg layers (one black australorp and one I'm not sure about). I spent some time with them but they never seemed to warm up to me, and I really wanted to raise chicks from the start so they would be friendly. I did some research and automatically loved the pimped out and very snazzy looking wyandottes- also good layers and meat birds. I picked up these two and a wellsummer, which I'm near certain is a pullet. She is the most skittish and least friendly towards me, where the wyandottes are very sweet and love to climb all over me. The silver is the most confident and the first to try everything new- this chick seems most likely to be a cockerel to me. The gold always wants to climb up my shoulder and nest in my hair - Every day I go between convincing myself the gold is a cockerel, then pullet, then cockerel and so on. It's become an obsession! I even have a saved file of other young wyanottes which I constantly scrutinise. Please put me out of my misery! I appreciate any help, thanks in advance

 

[Frazzemrat1]

too soon to tell. Gotta wait until their at least 8 weeks.

 

[bellz15]

too soon to tell. Gotta wait until their at least 8 weeks.

No worries I suspected as much. Any chance you want to take a wild guess for the fun of it? I plan on continuing to update so we will eventually get some results! Thanks!

 

[Ericapd]

They look like my SLW girls that are the same age. With my last chicks I raised, I noticed the cockerels had the tiniest combs since day one and then that area developed pink way earlier than the pullets. The pullets stayed yellow in the comb area until 12-14 weeks old too. This may vary with breed, but that was my experience.

 

[bellz15]

They look like my SLW girls that are the same age. With my last chicks I raised, I noticed the cockerels had the tiniest combs since day one and then that area developed pink way earlier than the pullets. The pullets stayed yellow in the comb area until 12-14 weeks old too. This may vary with breed, but that was my experience.

Thank you so much that is good to know! I assume your chicks were feather tested and that's how you know they are pullets? Were your last chicks wyandottes?

 

[Ericapd]

Also, my SLW chicks are very bold girls. They fly all over me, jump out of the brooder and explore. They are super friendly and want to sit in my lap and climb in my hair. It just might be their personalities. Don’t worry too much!

 

[Ericapd]

I got mine from Atwood’s. I’m not sure how they sex them, but I’m sure they are correct. I can tell that mine are pullets based on the other chicks I have raised. Some were barnyard mix and I also raised some black australorps. They all seem to have similar development to me.

 

[Ericapd]

If you start seeing the top of the beak turning pink in the next few weeks, then it’s probably a cockerel, but they look pretty flat and yellow to me.

 

[Ericapd]

View attachment 1828213
Here are my girls, Poppy and Silvia for a comparison if that helps.

 

[bellz15]

Also, my SLW chicks are very bold girls. They fly all over me, jump out of the brooder and explore. They are super friendly and want to sit in my lap and climb in my hair. It just might be their personalities. Don’t worry too much!

Yes I definitely can relate! All I can think is; 'oh lord please don't let it poo in my hair'. And thank you, I will keep an eye out for the redness. This waiting is killing me! I'm too attached now!