Sexing Chicks

[Sienatiger]

Hi! I recently got an order of all female chicks from MPC and 4 straight run silkies from tractor supply. This is my 3rd MPC order and one of every 3 chicks I get usually tends to be a rooster even when I order all females. It is kind of disappointing, but I love all of my chickens from them. I tried feather sexing and noticed that one of my chicks feathers was much shorter than the other ones. I recently found out about tail sexing. They are exactly a week old today and some of them are growing tail feathers while others are not. Is this an accurate way of sexing? Thanks so much for any help!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Tail feather development is just an indicator, not a set guide in sexing - it is one of the pieces of the puzzle that can be considered in determining gender as a chick grows - and is generally considered at about 2 weeks of age. Wing feather sexing is not applicable to all chicks, it is a method that is dependent on careful selection of parent stock to have a slow feathering parent and fast feathering parent (it is another form of sex linking like creating red and black sex links) and the reading must be done in the first three days. Many folks think that wing feather sexing is universal to all chicks and can be done at weeks of age, but that is not true - like all other "old wives tales" of sexing, it has a 50/50 shot at being correct.

 

[Sienatiger]

Tail feather development is just an indicator, not a set guide in sexing - it is one of the pieces of the puzzle that can be considered in determining gender as a chick grows - and is generally considered at about 2 weeks of age. Wing feather sexing is not applicable to all chicks, it is a method that is dependent on careful selection of parent stock to have a slow feathering parent and fast feathering parent (it is another form of sex linking like creating red and black sex links) and the reading must be done in the first three days. Many folks think that wing feather sexing is universal to all chicks and can be done at weeks of age, but that is not true - like all other "old wives tales" of sexing, it has a 50/50 shot at being correct.

Thanks so much for your help!