Sexing Delawares and Jersey Giants

[BarkerChickens]

Our chicks are 5.5 weeks old now and most are easy to tell the gender, but I have a few questions to clarify what I think...

First, the Delawares...
We have 8 chicks, 4 of which are DEFINITELY cockerels (large reddish-pink comb and wattles, large side, roo personality, etc). However, the other 4, which I think are females, are starting to confuse me. They have much smaller combs, little to no wattles, etc. But, they are starting to get a soft blush pink color on the top of their head (at the base of the comb, not on the comb specifically) and the back of the wattles are slightly pink as well (near the beak where the upper and lower beak meet). I know Del's develop quicker than other breeds, but do pullets develop this fast? The pink on the "girls" is much lighter and paler than the dark pink on the boys. I've been thinking I have 4 girls and 4 boys for about a 1.5 or 2 weeks now...now I am not so sure. Oh, they are all smaller than the cockerels too.

As for the Jersey Giants...
Easy question...when can you sex them based on comb/wattle color? All 8 of them look the same still...no distinct combs, no red color. I know they mature later, but how long till they can be sexed. Or maybe we just have all pullets!

(I wish!) One of my small ones is still growing in his shoulder feathers, so I am assuming he is a slow-developing male.

Thanks!

 

[BarkerChickens]

anyone?

Would this be better posted in the breeds section?

 

[speckledhen]

Delaware females feather out differently than males. The males have shoulder markings and barred tail feathers, while females tend to have less markings in the shoulder area and black tail feathers. If you look up some of my own posts regarding my Delawares or some of seriousbill's, you'll see good pics of the two sexes. JG's, I cant help you with, though.

 

[BarkerChickens]

Thanks Speckledhen! I'll take a look at the tail feathers this evening. I know two in particular that am questioning are nearly all white except some coloring in the tail. I haven't noticed if they are black or barred though.

 

[speckledhen]

Their markings evolve slowly. The females can have a feather or two with barring, but mostly, they should be black with white edging. Let me see if I can get a picture or two of some of the markings that I haven't posted yet.

Here is a pullet's tail, then a cockerel's tail and you can see the shoulder markings on the cockerel, too. They clear out and get better with age. :

 

[BarkerChickens]

Those pictures are great! Your cockerel looks similar to one my little guys! While I understood what you were describing, those pictures are very helpful! Especially the pullets tail, since I am sure I'd be stumped by the few small areas of barring. With the pictures, I can clearly see a difference! Thanks again!

 

[speckledhen]

Glad to help!