Sexing partridge pattern chicks

[Rhodebar Lover]

They might. But I like homegrown meat, too... With last year's batch, there was one chicken my kids got really attached to so we put some effort in and rehomed it, but the rest that were extra just got eaten. I'll try not to get too attached to all of these pullets. Part of why we're hatching chicks is for meat, and I want to do it every year for meat even if we don't end up keeping any for eggs/pets, so this is just going to happen...

I have to respect that I do always appreciate the farms whose birds always stay on the property. Keeps it stress free on the birds and maintains an in-touch perspective on the process. I do admire people who do this

 

[Chicalina]

Oh wow! That is incredibly interesting. I had four cockerels and a pullet Silver Pencilled Rock and that method did work... I always wondered if there was a reason. My Partridge Brahmas didn't follow this though. Maybe certain lines?

I have no idea, but it is an interesting theory. Maybe there is more research on it published online. I will have a dig around and see what I can find.

 

[Chicalina]

They might. But I like homegrown meat, too... With last year's batch, there was one chicken my kids got really attached to so we put some effort in and rehomed it, but the rest that were extra just got eaten. I'll try not to get too attached to all of these pullets. Part of why we're hatching chicks is for meat, and I want to do it every year for meat even if we don't end up keeping any for eggs/pets, so this is just going to happen...

You are treading a tightrope when you name them I think!

I can't look at a live chicken and see meat. My flock have spoiled me! But I will happily eat someone else's chickens, lol.

Now pigs... I can look at a cute piglet and see bacon and sausages

Shame I don't keep pigs.

 

[Phoenix Native]

I know it’s still early (12 days old), but just out of curiosity... would anybody venture a guess as to the sex of these babies? Red Partridge Orpingtons from Papa’s Poultry. I’m worried that none of them look convincingly female

For context: they vary greatly in color and pattern, because the breeder is outcrossing to other colors of Orpingtons to improve the genetic diversity of the line. So these chicks range from yellow to red and various browns, and some have a distinct chipmunk pattern while others have no chipmunk patterning whatsoever. So they're throwing me off. Does this mean their feather patterning will be inconsistent as well? And less reliable for sexing? Or is the partridge pattern an all or nothing deal - they either have it and feather out correctly, or they don't?

I don't have a lot of experience with genetics and how patterns develop, so I'm curious to see what you guys think. I will also update this thread as the chicks grow, so that others might find it useful later on, to see how each color and pattern turned out.


Lemonade (weak chipmunk pattern):
View attachment 2642909

Pooh (weak chipmunk pattern on head only, none on body):
View attachment 2642907

Blinky (no chipmunk pattern at all). His wing feathers have the most black and least amount of patterning of all of them. He also has the most prominent comb, and the most prominent personality... Which are all bad signs
View attachment 2642910

The Pretty One (with the most pronounced chipmunk pattern and high contrast feathers):
View attachment 2642906

The Baby (has okay chipmunk patterning, but too much black on the feathers which isn't a good sign):
View attachment 2642908


If anybody is female at all, I'm guessing Pooh and maybe the Pretty One, potentially maybe even Lemonade as well, if I'm being optimistic, but I doubt it. Lemonade is the least people-social of the bunch. Blinky and the Baby look male to me based on the wing feathers (and Blinky's comb and personality).

Let me know what you guys think!

Cute babies...any updates on them as to their gender? The darker one with the longer wings I'd bet is your only female but curious.

 

[K0k0shka]

Cute babies...any updates on them as to their gender? The darker one with the longer wings I'd bet is your only female but curious.

They are 1 month old now and, even though I thought I only had 1 female, too, when they were much younger, I am now pretty positive that it's 3 females and 2 males (wohoo!). Since this line of partridge is still under development, the chicks' feathers aren't coming in consistent with the breed standard, so they are very confusing to sex based on the feather pattern and color. So I guess that's the takeaway from this story. If your birds don't come from reliable pedigrees, you can't really rely on the partridge pattern itself for sexing By now their combs and wattles are pretty obvious though.

Here are some recent pictures:

Lemonade (male)

Blinky (male)

Pooh (female)

The Baby (female)

The Pretty One (has too much black which should mean male, but everything else about it looks female to me)

A nice side by side of one male and two females, for comparison. The one with too much black looks female compared to this guy:

I’ll keep posting picture updates as they get older.

 

[Phoenix Native]

They are 1 month old now and, even though I thought I only had 1 female, too, when they were much younger, I am now pretty positive that it's 3 females and 2 males (wohoo!). Since this line of partridge is still under development, the chicks' feathers aren't coming in consistent with the breed standard, so they are very confusing to sex based on the feather pattern and color. So I guess that's the takeaway from this story. If your birds don't come from reliable pedigrees, you can't really rely on the partridge pattern itself for sexing By now their combs and wattles are pretty obvious though.

Here are some recent pictures:

Lemonade (male)
View attachment 2679893


Blinky (male)
View attachment 2679894


Pooh (female)
View attachment 2679895


The Baby (female)
View attachment 2679897


The Pretty One (has too much black which should mean male, but everything else about it looks female to me)
View attachment 2679899


A nice side by side of one male and two females, for comparison. The one with too much black looks female compared to this guy:
View attachment 2679898


I’ll keep posting picture updates as they get older.

They are adorable...Yep, I agree with you.

 

[K0k0shka]

You are treading a tightrope when you name them I think!

I can't look at a live chicken and see meat. My flock have spoiled me! But I will happily eat someone else's chickens, lol.

Now pigs... I can look at a cute piglet and see bacon and sausages

Shame I don't keep pigs.

I grew up on a farm and took part in almost everything... So I've been hardened I can see meat in anything that has meat. But I can also see the cuteness, too, and love them while they are alive. It's a weird dichotomy, but the two can totally coexist.

Those names were supposed to be placeholder until we know who we're keeping and give them their permanent names I guess I should've numbered them instead... Actually I did number the eggs, but lost track of who hatched out of which egg. Oh well. Last year they had names, too, and we had favorites, but still ate them in the end. It will be hard, but it will be so tasty!

I don't know if I want to keep all 3 pullets even if they are indeed all pullets, as counterintuitive and anticlimactic as that is. I've been hoping for girls this whole time, and, luckily, it looks like I did get a bunch! I only intended to keep 1 or 2 though, 3 would be pushing it with my space. But if I end up eventually deciding on narrowing it down to 2, I'm going to see if I can trade the third girl for a cockerel or some unwanted pullet/hen that I can eat instead of her. Red Partridge Orpingtons are very rare, so I'll probably be able to find a home for her, so she wouldn't have to die. And some lucky and desperate suburbanite out there will be able to get rid of their unwanted male, so I still get my meat

 

[Chicalina]

I grew up on a farm and took part in almost everything... So I've been hardened I can see meat in anything that has meat. But I can also see the cuteness, too, and love them while they are alive. It's a weird dichotomy, but the two can totally coexist.

Those names were supposed to be placeholder until we know who we're keeping and give them their permanent names I guess I should've numbered them instead... Actually I did number the eggs, but lost track of who hatched out of which egg. Oh well. Last year they had names, too, and we had favorites, but still ate them in the end. It will be hard, but it will be so tasty!

I don't know if I want to keep all 3 pullets even if they are indeed all pullets, as counterintuitive and anticlimactic as that is. I've been hoping for girls this whole time, and, luckily, it looks like I did get a bunch! I only intended to keep 1 or 2 though, 3 would be pushing it with my space. But if I end up eventually deciding on narrowing it down to 2, I'm going to see if I can trade the third girl for a cockerel or some unwanted pullet/hen that I can eat instead of her. Red Partridge Orpingtons are very rare, so I'll probably be able to find a home for her, so she wouldn't have to die. And some lucky and desperate suburbanite out there will be able to get rid of their unwanted male, so I still get my meat

Haha, I get it. Meat!!!!

I grew up on a farm too! We raised sheep and I took care of the orphan lambs. Then we moved to London and I went soft .

My chickens are "pets with benefits" to me, but if I had a farm and lots more of them then I would see them differently for sure.

I even have a little tear whenever one of my cockerels gets rehomed in case his new owners aren't good to him or eat him. I can't control that so have to just get over it. Balls of steel, me! (not)

 

[K0k0shka]

Here are some updated pictures for the record. The boys have been rehomed so I only have the 3 girls left, and by now I'm absolutely confident that all 3 of them are pullets. Yay! Two are starting to look very similar to each other and to show the proper patterning for the breed. The third one still has WAY too much black for the breed, but she also has the smallest and palest comb, so I'm certain she's a girl. Phew! Oh, and one of them has blue feet... There has definitely been some mixing going on in this line!

6 week photos:

Pooh. Her pattern looks more barred than laced at this point, but that's what my DSL Barnevelders looked like at this age last year, and eventually the bars got replaced by real laces and right now they are gorgeously double-laced.

The Baby. Her lacing is finer and has more detail, and resembles the real thing better. These two pullets remind me of my two Barnevelders and how their pattern developed. One has always been more detailed than the other, while the other has thicker laces with better contrast. Would be fun to watch how these two develop and what their lacing ends up looking like.

The Pretty One - the odd one out. REALLY curious to see what she ends up looking like. Black hen with minimal lacing here and there, or is the black temporary like it was on my male from last year?

Hard to believe they are all the same breed:

Quite the color difference:

And size difference:

 

[K0k0shka]

The fancy blue feet