Sexing Favacauna Chicks??

[mirandaleecon]

We recently hatched 21 chicks, ages range from 3 weeks to 10ish weeks. The rooster is a Faverolle and the mothers are either Americauna or some mystery hen that I have that lays green eggs. I believe she is a cross between Americauna and some other dark, brown egg laying bird because she looks a lot like my Americaunas, just very dark in color. I couldn't distinguish the chicks after they grew a few feathers so I'm not sure which is which. And one chick's mother was a Barred Rock.

Anyway, assuming the mother's are mostly Americauna, this would make them F1 Favacaunas. Has anyone raised these and know of specific traits that help with sexing? They are a variety of different shades from almost white, red, brown, and mixed black and brown. Some also have long tails and some seem to have almost no tail at all but it doesn't seem consistent with the ones that I suspect to be male or female. The only ones I am fairly positive that are roosters are the brown ones with black chests but there's only 5 out of the 21. I hope I'm that lucky but I doubt it.

Also, I think I read somewhere that Barred Rocks are sex links and if their offspring look like their mother, they are roosters and if they are solid, they are hens. Did I read that right? If so, mine would be a rooster.

I've been trying to watch them and see if I can tell any difference in posture/gait but nothing seems consistent. And the ages all vary so they are all different sizes so I can't really go by the feet. Of the three oldest ones, I know I definitely have one rooster as he has the dark chest and his comb is already much more red but he's the only one I'm sure of at this point...

I'll try to get some pictures today but there's so many, I doubt I'll get clear pictures of all of them...

 

[UrbanFarmOC]

All I know is that they are hard to sex! I have 2 favaucanas. Father is SF and mother is a Lavender Ameraucana (true breed, not Easter Egger). The resulting babies are black with pea combs. I had my suspicions and at 3-4 weeks old, I concluded that they were both pullets. However, at about 2months old, I realized that one was probably a cockerel.

 

[mirandaleecon]

Yea, they seem to have a mixed bag of characteristics from both parents so nothing is consistent across the board. It even seems like they have some characteristics from their Araucauna roots (almost no tail and weird short butt). Guess it's gonna have to be a wait and see game...

 

[UrbanFarmOC]

From your OP, it sounds like you have Easter Eggers, not true Ameraucana. SF/ Amer mixes shouldn't be such a mixed bag (ie tail vs no tail).

 

[mirandaleecon]

Here is Harvey Dent, one of the oldest and the only one I am pretty positive is a rooster. This picture is from a couple weeks ago, his comb is starting to turn red now. I took this picture after doctoring him up from some unexplained injuries. This is his good side, the other side was a bit mangled and covered in BlueKote.
These are the three oldest when they were little. The one on the right is mystery hens offspring and the other two are Americaunas I believe, one including Harvey but I have no idea which. Mystery hens chick is now a really pretty light reddish, and I'm pretty positive she is a hen. You can see some of the red starting to come in on her shoulders.
This is mystery hen (Kristie) and Turkey Chicken (named by my grandson), the father. I know it isn't the greatest picture, but it's the only one I have of her in my phone. Any idea what she is?

 

[keesmom]

Yea, they seem to have a mixed bag of characteristics from both parents so nothing is consistent across the board. It even seems like they have some characteristics from their Araucauna roots (almost no tail and weird short butt).  Guess it's gonna have to be a wait and see game...

The lack of tail feathers tends to be a male trait with Faverolles. As for sexing, since one parent is a mixed breed the offspring will be all over the place.

 

[mirandaleecon]

From your OP, it sounds like you have Easter Eggers, not true Ameraucana. SF/ Amer mixes shouldn't be such a mixed bag (ie tail vs no tail).

Hmm well all of their parents have tails, maybe some are just growing in slower than others. Of the younger ones, they are all spread out over about two weeks so that could explain it. I just assumed some of them weren't going to get tails because their behinds look a bit more rounded and the rest of their feathers are already starting to grow in. Or maybe the feed store just didn't have Ameraucanas...I'll try to get some pictures of that tonight too.

 

[mirandaleecon]

The lack of tail feathers tends to be a male trait with Faverolles. As for sexing, since one parent is a mixed breed the offspring will be all over the place.

That's what I thought too but the one that I'm pretty sure of being a rooster has a pretty long tail! Grr I should have marked them or banded them when they hatched so I could tell them apart. The first couple that hatched from mystery chicks eggs were solid yellow and the Ameracauna's had the chipmunk stripes so I figured I could tell them apart. Then some of mystery chicks started hatching with chipmunk stripes and by then I had no idea who was who! Oh well, I'm not trying to breed for anything specific. I think this is really the only time it would be helpful to know who was who so I could maybe sex them easier. I'll just have to be patient...

 

[mirandaleecon]

Here is one of the chicks that looks like she has no tail.

This is the three oldest. See how one's tail is barely there and the other one is much longer. I believe the one with the longer tail is a rooster but I'm not sure about the one with no tail yet...

Here's a better picture of all three.

This one is typical of the ones I have no idea about. Any guesses?

Not the best picture but it gives you an idea of the variety...

 

[mirandaleecon]

Anybody have any ideas what the chick in the fourth picture is?