sexing speckled sussex

[mudpaw]

does anyone know of a good way to sex young speckled sussex? I have already had one 12 week old "pullet" turn out to be a roo and had to replace it with what, so far, seems to be a pullet. They looked identical when I got them (at 12 weeks old). Is there any way to easily discern the gender before they are blatantly one or the other? I have three 5 week old chicks that I'd love to figure out. I want to pull the pullets to get them a little more friendly or at least less terrified of humans(they are being brooded by a hen). The cockerels will be leaving, so I'm not going to fuss over them.

 

[Gallusfarm]

It is sooo dificult to sex these birds. We have some going on 12 weeks, and although I've posted on here twice and each time told they are all roos, a few of them have combs/wattles that are not a big, not as red-they just look different. And no one has crowed... yet. But the thing is they are all getting green tail feathers coming in. Not sure if that is a sure sign of a roo. There is a difference in the body shape as well, I think the males are supposed to be more compact-or is it the females???

Also, the one I think is def a roo is heavier than the suspected females....

For the ones you have at 5 weeks, it's really gonna be a tough one. Can you post pics?


Hoepfully someone else will be able to provide some insight.

 

[pdsavage]

It would help if you posted pics....

 

[anniem]

I didn't know these guys were so hard to sex...EEs were enough trouble! I have a couple almost 3 week olds, i'm curious to see some "teen" pics so I know what to look for. I got a 2nd batch of chicks just b/c I wanted some SS, will be sooo sad if they aren't girls.

 

[mudpaw]

I'll get photos of all three asap. I have to wait for my phone to charge before I can take any photos >_< My hubby has the other camera so it's the only thing I've got.

The green tail feathers...the young roo (he was about 14 weeks old when he finally looked like a roo) had a pretty green tail, but so does my supposed pullet. The guy I got them from said they were the hardest breed for him to sex...you can't even go on looking for point saddle feathers (most of the body feathers seem to have pointed shape-very unique looking). I'll take some photos of my pullet too. Here's a post where I have some photos of the cockerel I had: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=329043

 

[Gallusfarm]

Cant wait to see your pics. There are only a few posts that I could find w/ pics of young ss.


Here's mine. Def a boy:

Maybe a girl ?

 

[Higins00]

I have pics of my 13 week old but can't figure out how to upload them. I'll keep trying

 

[Painted Spirit]

Mine were easy to sex as chicks.... as they got older they then looked more similar for a few months, but you could still tell the roos comb was bigger than the hens.

The roo is on the lower left with more blurring of the chipmunk stripe and the reddish head. Females had sharp edges to their stripes. Hope this helps!

 

[crzychickenlady]

These are SO hard to tell when they are young because they have suck a large comb and wattles even on the females.
Ascorbic, looks like yours might be mixed a little....

Here's some pics of the one I had that was a pullet, I'll show chick pics and grown.

Dunno if this will help or not.

 

[anniem]

So what about my little ones? About 1 week old here:

One the far right and the one standing in the back