Prairie bluebell X welsummer wing sexing

[Redheadhomestead]

Hey all I realize wing sexing can only be done with specific breeds and isn’t nearly as accurate as some make it out to be. That said I have a welsummer roo and prairie bluebell egger hens any idea if this mix should be wing sexable? TIA!

 

[nuthatched]

Likely not, unless you know how the parents feathered in

 

[Redheadhomestead]

Are there any good write ups with numerous pics on wing sexing? I might just conduct my own science haha

I’ve seen a ton of low quality youTube videos just figured there may be a high quality write up here but couldn’t find one in the stickies

 

[ChickyMudder]

I read last week…. Icould be confused, but The story goes you need a rooster with slow feathering gene and a Hen with fast feathering gene.

Sooo what breeds are those?

 

[NatJ]

I read last week…. Icould be confused, but The story goes you need a rooster with slow feathering gene and a Hen with fast feathering gene.

That is backwards.

You need a hen with slow feathering (the dominant gene, which will be visible in her sons.)
You need a rooster with fast feathering (the recessive gene, which will be visible in his daughters, and carried by his sons but not visible because they inherit slow feathering from the mother.)

The whole thing works because of how chicken sex chromosomes behave. Males have sex chromosomes ZZ. They inherit one from each parent, and give one to each chick. Females have ZW. They inherit Z from their father, and W from their mother. They give Z to their sons and W to their daughters.

Sooo what breeds are those?

The real way to be sure is to look at how they grow their feathers as chicks. If you look when they are about 2-4 weeks old, the difference is usually quite obvious. The fast feathering ones have lots of feathers. The slow feathering ones look pretty naked at that point. Not completely bare, but they have a lot fewer feathers. They are the ones that prompt people to post questions like "why isn't this chick growing feathers?"

Rocks, Wyandottes, Cochins, and Orpingtons are some breeds that seem to often have slow feathering. But often is not the same as always-- there can be individuals and even whole flocks that don't match what is "usual" for their breed.

Fast feathering is very common for practical reasons: chicks that feather out faster can move outside without supplemental heat at a younger age. So there are quite a few breeds with fast feathering.