Sexing Buff Orpingtons.... help please!

[hinkjc]

Can you show a group pic? I agree it looks like a pullet, but at 4 weeks it is still a bit early to tell unless you have something to compare to. I would not use feather growth as a judgment for sex. Parents birds must be bred a certain way for feather sexing to work.

 

[klwr333]

We have some Buff Orpington chicks that are hatching out and have noticed that they have different feather lengths on their wings while they are small. Some have feathers that are the same length, others have noticeably two different lengths of feathers. Can we sex them this way? (Of course, it's only a matter of time before we know, anyway, but . . . ) I thought it had to be a cross between a slow-feathering and a fast-feathering breed before there'd be noticeable differences in their baby wing feathers. It sure would be nice. I'd like to try to keep from getting attached to future dinners, but I would love to gentle our hens from the get-go!

 

[nuttyredhead]

I didnt know until 11-12 weeks with my BO, was confirmed when he tried to crow. There was no early comb or wattles like my amberlinks, i knew with him at 4 weeks!

 

[klwr333]

When they are all together, some of my four-week-old Buffs look more rooster-ish than others, with redder and a bit more prominent combs, and a more "cocky" attitude!

But the difference in how their wing feathers grow in the first few days confuses me. Shouldn't they all be the same, if they aren't able to be sexed that way?