Sexing baby chicks

[Gerry60]

I got 8 chicks today black copper marans how do I sex them?

 

[Bluerosesd]

I watched a few YouTube videos but haven’t tried it yet. There are a bunch of old wives tales on how to sex them but none are scientific in nature and have some degree of being wrong

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Vent sexing is a practice best left to the experts not only because of the risk of injuring the chick but also because "reading" what you see is not as simple as you would think. The attached photo shows how what you see can be very hard to decipher with regards to gender. Also you must consider the age of the bird as this practice is best done in the 1st couple of days.

For the average keeper, the best approach is assessing characteristics in the first several weeks as the chicks develop. With a little practice you can usually have a pretty good idea of who is what by 2 weeks 4 weeks or 6 weeks depending on the bird

 

[Acre4Me]

Vent sexing is a practice best left to the experts not only because of the risk of injuring the chick but also because "reading" what you see is not as simple as you would think. The attached photo shows how what you see can be very hard to decipher with regards to gender. Also you must consider the age of the bird as this practice is best done in the 1st couple of days.View attachment 1285275
For the average keeper, the best approach is assessing characteristics in the first several weeks as the chicks develop. With a little practice you can usually have a pretty good idea of who is what by 2 weeks 4 weeks or 6 weeks depending on the bird

A while back someone indicated on BYC that there are several different ways that the male and female vent parts could appear....and now we know why it’s a job not everyone can do (even with training). Wow!

I’m looking forward to knowing what my straight run BJG contains -I only bought 2, so hoping for at least 1 female! They are 1 week old, so I’ve got a little while to wait.

 

[Beckychick11]

If you have multiple chicks the same breed, does comparing comb size to one another, indicate roos?