Sex of chick by behavior

[YourChickHasAPastyButt]

So... we are new to chickens this year, but I have noticed something very telling about all the black australorp roos we ended up with vs. other chick breeds that have all turned out to be pullets, and now three of the four australorp chicks we have now. All the chicks that did turn out to be pullets have had two behavior traits from just a few weeks on.
1. Coming to your hand and wanting to be held. The ones that have turned out to be cockerels always kept a distance from your hands.
2. Wanting to jump up on items and roost.
Out of the batch of four australorp chicks we have now, I'm already fairly certain we have three pullets this time and another cockerel, just based off this behavior. Time will tell.

 

[nuthatched]

You can't really sex chicks this way, it's up to the individual chicks to decide their behavior.:] Typically, cockerels are what most people mistake as 'Friendly' or cuddly', they're actually being bold and trying boundaries, not something they should be rewarded for.

 

[aart]

You can't really sex chicks this way, it's up to the individual chicks to decide their behavior.:] Typically, cockerels are what most people mistake as 'Friendly' or cuddly', they're actually being bold and trying boundaries, not something they should be rewarded for.

Ditto Dat^^^

Out of the batch of four australorp chicks we have now, I'm already fairly certain we have three pullets this time and one cockerel, just based off this behavior. Time will tell.

By about 4-6 weeks the males will show color in comb and wattle.

 

[YourChickHasAPastyButt]

Ditto Dat^^^


By about 4-6 weeks the males will show color in comb and wattle.

May be wrong. At this point, it's been the case with 7 roos, and 10 pullets. If I called this right, it'll be 8 roos and 13 pullets. Hoping I'm wrong as I'd rather all four BA's be hens. I'll post some pics of them tonight and post later on to see how it turns out. We kept one of the first batch of BA roos and he's a handsome son of a gun when the sunlight hits his feathers. Started getting eggs from our pullets these past two weeks as well.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Every time I think I have been sure of the sex of my chicks by their behavior, I’ve been proven wrong.
Generally the super friendly chicks tend to be male and the shy ones female, but I’ve had females be super friendly too.
As behavior was not proving to be accurate, in an attempt to sex my Silkies at a young age, over the past year I’ve been weighing my chicks at two days of age with the theory that the lighter or smaller chick were female and the larger or heavier chicks were male, everything else being equal i.e. same parents etc. Just when I thought this was proving to be accurate I had a little tiny one end up being male and a huge chunk end up being female.
So, basically you just have to wait and see.

 

[sjango]

I've found the ones that come up to my hand as chicks usually are males. This is not always the case but has been generally true in my experience. Of course behavior is very variable and differs from bird to bird and flock to flock.

 

[YourChickHasAPastyButt]

Okay... so, maybe since I've been focusing so much on having BA hens and constantly getting roos... it may just be breed specific with their behavior. I may be wrong. (I thought I was once, but I was mistaken). Anyway... here's what I'm thinking this time based on their behaviors mentioned in the original post.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Behavior is not a reliable indicator of gender BUT I do think you can use it to help reduce the chances of getting males at a feed store. When I'm picking out chicks (out of a sexed pullet bin) I specify that I don't want any that are friendly/interested/standing up to the employee's hand when they reach in. Given that there's roughly 10% chance of getting males out of the pullet bin, I try to swing the odds even more towards getting a pullet by avoiding chicks that display behavior that more typically would indicate male.

 

[YourChickHasAPastyButt]

Turns out they're all pullets . Most agile breed we've had so far. They are up and down everything left and right. Little balls of energy. The one "Brahma" we were sold turned out to be a Golden Comet (left side of roost). She is the friendliest one in the flock. She runs to my daughter to be held all the time. We thought she was frizzled, and her feathers stayed frizzled until 3 days being moved outside. Then she shed the frizzled feathers and looks like a normal Golden Comet now. Glad though, because I was worried about her handling the cold with her feathers like that. They are all hitting a growth spurt since we put them in the coop/run. Introducing new birds to a flock turned out to be extremely stressful. I made an area below that roost I blocked off with 1" garden fencing and cut a whole just big enough for them to get through so they could retreat and see each other. After a week, they got along fine. They are really mean to newcomers for a spell.

 

[YourChickHasAPastyButt]

In conclusion... ya'll were right. Behavior in chicks means nothing. I've lived... I've learned.