Sexing chicks by wing feather?

[yellowflower]

I saw a post on this with pics but I can't find it now. Does anyone have some pics? I thought I would give it a shot with my silkie chicks.
Thanks

 

[Crazyland]

There is this.
http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/reprod/ReproTech/Feathersex/sld003.htm

I was laughing at a lady at the store who was looking at almost week old chicks and said if they had feathers they were girls... "Yep, that's a girl. Yep, that's a girl. Yep, that's a girl." Wonder how many boys she got.

 

[yellowflower]

Thanks for the link! That is funny, I don't think it works on week olds? You have to do it when they first hatch is my understanding.

 

[Crazyland]

lol yes to my understanding to feather sex them they have to be 1-2 days old. and for sure they all have feathers at a week old!

 

[SuperChicken07]

Is this accurate for all chicks or just certain breeds?

 

[Crazyland]

from what I have read on here it doesn't work with Silkies but with the hard feathered birds it works pretty well.

 

[yellowflower]

Well, I can only try

 

[pdsavage]

Feather sexing

Feather sexing is easy, but it requires that the chickens be specially bred to manifest their sex in differences in the feathers as hatchlings. These are usually hybrids rather than true breeds, and are called sex linked chickens. Female chickens in these breeds have longer wing pinfeathers than the males do, which makes them relatively easy to tell apart. Most chickens do not have these traits bred into them, and the hatchlings are identical to all but the skilled eye of the professional chicken sexer.

Feather sexing became possible in 1969 after several years of genetic research by the Tegels Poultry Breeding Company. This method used to determine the sex of newly hatched chicks is only possible if a female from a slow-feathering breed is crossed with a male from a fast-feathering breed. The sex of the chicks produced from this cross can be determined during the first 48 hours after hatching by looking at the primary and secondary feathers located on the chick's wings. The primary feathers will be noticeably longer than the secondary feathers on a female chick. On a male, the primary and secondary feathers are the same length.

 

[horseskipper]

http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/reprod/ReproTech/Feathersex/sld001.htm this what your looking for?

 

[LeenaB]

Here's the best write up about sexing chickens, and sex linked birds.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information

I had two recent hatches- the first one had some sex-linked chicks.