Sexing Rhode Island Red chicks

[Jetblack2004]

I have a few questions about sexing RIR.

1. Feather sexing: Can you feather sex RIR? I tried with my chicks but they all look like hens and I don't think that cat be right. Could you help me?

2. Vent sexing: I tried but I'm not sure what I'm looking for exactly. Could you help?

3. Marking sexing: I've done some research and some people have said you can sex RIR by their markings. I have some chicks with black dots on their heads and some with black lines next to their eyes. One of the chicks has stripes and is a lot darker. Could you help me?


Please help me sex my chicks. Thanks.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I have a few questions about sexing RIR.

1. Feather sexing: Can you feather sex RIR? I tried with my chicks but they all look like hens and I don't think that cat be right. Could you help me?

2. Vent sexing: I tried but I'm not sure what I'm looking for exactly. Could you help?

3. Marking sexing: I've done some research and some people have said you can sex RIR by their markings. I have some chicks with black dots on their heads and some with black lines next to their eyes. One of the chicks has stripes and is a lot darker. Could you help me?


Please help me sex my chicks. Thanks.

Welcome to BYC. How old are your chicks?
1 - no, feather sexing requires specific crossings of fast and slow feathering birds so it is not applicable to purebred birds.
2 - vent sexing is quite complicated as there are several different configurations that the chicken genitalia can take, here is an illustration of why even experienced vent sexers can be mistaken;


3 - while some lines may have reliable differences, it is not something that, as a general rule, is true of RIR - the differences are less linked to gender than they are just the minor variations in the birds (though, for your own purposes you might want to record the differences you are seeing and then compare that to how the final gender breakdown works out to see if your suspicions are accurate.

Ultimately, for RIR chicks that have not been vent sexed by an experienced person your best bet is to wait until they are 6+ weeks of age and then use the various gender characteristics that will emerge.

 

[Jetblack2004]

They are 3 days old.

Thank you for reply so fast!

The pictures of vent sexing are very different so I think I'll leave that to the pros.

I am going to try splitting the chicks to see what gender comes from which markings.

I will wait until they are older and see what happens. I'm in no rush to sex them. I'm just fascinated.

Thanks

 

[Jetblack2004]

Btw, Do you have any idea why one of my chicks is dark brown with a long stripe down her/his back and the rest are Brown.

Could the darker one be crossed?

 

[Jetblack2004]

Btw, Do you have any idea why one of my chicks is dark brown with a long stripe down her/his back and the rest are Brown.

Could the darker one be crossed?

Bump

 

[2chicksagain]

The pullets will grow their tails first and the roos will grow their comb first. Hope this helps!

 

[Jetblack2004]

Thanks it has helped.