Question... How do tell the sex of a layer chick???

[cb]

I want to know how do you tell the sex of chick layer?

 

[SandraMort]

Aren't ALL layers female?

 

[spaka74]

wait, if im understanding this right, your just like my mum,
i laughed so much when i found out that she thought boy chickens (roosters or cockerels) layed eggs, when really they just lead a happy life of providing the stuff to make the right number of chromosones for a living chick to be born....

i didnt think that it wasnt just my mum....

what a day....

 

[freshegg]

yes if its a layer its a girl

 

[cmom]

Quote:
This web site may be of interest to you.

http://www.howtodothings.com/pets-and-animals/a3887-how-to-determine-the-sex-of-baby-chickens.html

 

[flakey chick]

Perhaps CB meant layer as a type of breed, like RIR instead of a meat breed like cornish X.

There is a vent sexing method practised by experts that has to be done before they eat. There are several sex-linked breeds that have traits like headspots, etc. but it really depends on the breed.

 

[pdpatch]

I have a feeling the problems is while raising a chicks you bought as a layer. The chick does not act like the rest of them. So you wonder is it really a layer? That has happened to us.

Our first batch of layers was purchased from a farm store. They were suppose to be sexed. But we ended up with one cockerel in that batch.

Sexing of chicks is not 100%. It's an art form so you don't really know until they lay eggs or decide to crow. A young cockerel (male less then one year old) will start to display some characteristic of and adult at before they mature.

Sexing of chicks can only be done in the first few days by normal ways. The you have to wait until adult characteristics start to show. But this also depends on the breed of the birds.

1. The biggest clue is aggression towards the other birds at a young age. Although some pullets can be aggressive.

2. The chick is larger then the rest of them or a group is larger the rest. We did have one Barbed Rock that was a big as a male but she layed eggs until she just dropped dead at 6 months. Also when you buy a mixed lot of birds and you get a cornish x with them.

3. It seems to mature faster then the rest. Normally Males grow faster and are larger. At about 2 to 3 weeks you may notice this but at this age it's hard to tell. See above about the Conrish Cross, which was much larger then a standard chick from the start.

4. It attempts to crow. Can be about 9 to 10 weeks of age. But then again some roo's just don't ever. We had one male that hide with the ladies for nearly 16 weeks before he crowed. we suspected it was a male but he did a really good job of not giving him self away for a while.

5. It lays eggs, for a standard size chicken, 22 weeks for most, 20 weeks for cross link types. This is a general rule.

6. You butcher the chicken and find eggs. Hasn't happen yet but I know of at least one person this happend to.

And finally to matters worse it is possible for a chicken to change there sex characteristics as an adult. It's extremely rare. but that has been documented.

 

[lavandula girl]

All these terrific hints being said, I still look at the chicks one day and decide I ended up with 5 out of 6 as cockerels, and the next day I think I may be safe and have all girls. It doesn't help when you have a few different breeds, because then they develop a little differently, too. Good luck, CB!