I have seven 2 week old chicks that I don't know the sex of. I know it's still way early to tell if (or more Like how many) I haves any roos. But the one pictured below already has a comb way bigger and redder than the rest. What is your opinion? It's supposed to be a sex link chick, which I was told was guaranteed female. (Can someone explain to me what exactly a sex link chick is?) Thanks! Sorry they are sideways...I'm on my phone and it's too much of a pain to fix it
I had a black sex link, (on my BYC page) and they're a cross breed. Usually you can tell by color/markings which is male/female. That's one of the good things about them. Here's a picture of Pru, about 3 weeks, I think
Quote:I'd have to agree. Sex linked means you can tell at hatch which is male, which is female, just by coloring...
We purchased 25 pullets in March and had one "pullet" which I had doubts about around week 3. Sure enough, bigger redder comb and grew faster. I heard the first cockadodle in early May. Old Mexican Wives Tail from Texas: An old friend told me if you gently hold a week old chick by the head between two fingers, allowing the legs to dangle, a pullet will go limp and a roo will kick its legs. It proved correct in this case. I was worried this would hurt my chicks because I am a first time chick-mom but they were no worse for the wear.
Based on the comb size, I would say roo. I spotted all my potential roos by their comb size between 2-3 weeks old.
I am not good at telling sex yet, so I wont give my 2 cents on that one but I can help with the sex link chick thing. See I bought 3 chicks and was told I had 1 white/buff Plymouth rock hen, and 2 RIR hens, I proudly posted their pics on here and found out they were all sex links. The white/buff Plymouth rock was called a red sex link roo and the 2 RIR's turned out to be red sex link chicks as well. The white/buff one is still up for debate, as it has become more buff and now & thought to be an amberlink hen, still a sex link just of a different color. With sex links they breed a roo of one breed/color with a hen of a different breed/color. The male chicks hatch with coloring closer to moms (I believe) and the females hatch with coloring similar to dads, again Im not 100% sure about this but I thought that is what I had read. They are supposed to hatch so that you could tell their sex by their coloring/markings I think. There was a great thread about this on here, I will look for it and post it for you. They are supposed to be awesome egg layers, mine are still too young though. Here is a website I found helpful: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Sex-links/BRKSexLink.html Oh and I found the thread! There is alot of info in this post but hopefully it will be helpfuol to you https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208
Thanks for the info! It's definitely a blacK Sex linked chick as its parents are RIR and BR ans the chick is all black with no spot on head. Since everyone thinks it's a roo...is it possible to be a sex link that turns out wrong? I now have two others(as of this afternoon!) That have combs that big! Ah I sure hope I don't end up with three roos. Do pullets ever have combs that big at two weeks? Thanks
