Silver Campines

[AprilTwilights]

Hi there, I bought three silver 24-hour old silver campine chicks on October 11, at a poultry swap. Is it too early to tell boys from girls at this age? I can get pictures if someone can tell me what to take pictures of.

One of them has a much shorter comb, that is lighter in color than the other two. That's about the only difference I can see at this point.

Thanks!
Mariah

 

[Wyandottes7]

It may be early enough to at least guess at gender. At this age, any large red comb usually indicates male.

 

[Michael OShay]

We would need to see pictures (heads with combs and wattles, and hackle and tail feathers) to have any real shot at identifying their gender. Trying to ID a chick without a picture is like shooting in the dark.

 

[BantamLover21]

It may be early enough to at least guess at gender. At this age, any large red comb usually indicates male.

x2 on this.

 

[Wisher1000]

This is a girl. Ignore the duct tape helment, she had been pecked on the head and needed some protection while it healed (it worked like a charm, incidently!)

I would agree with the above statements, normally, but these are Campines. You can tell the boys from the girls at three to four weeks in most cases. The boys will start showing their machismo quite early, surely by three weeks - any hint of pink in the comb, comb above the head feathers, attempts at crowing, (no joke) and/or upright stance means it's a boy. No doubt. By five weeks, the comb will be the most obvious, standing well above the head and red. The ones with yellow combs that have grown very little will be the girls - BUT - occasionally, rarely, one that appeared to be a girl will end up being a boy, but you will see signs of pink in the comb if you look closely, even in those.

Based on your description, I'd say you have two boys and a girl. Congratulations! SCs are wonderful! Do you know the name of the breeder that you got them from?

 

[AprilTwilights]

Thanks, everyone! I can't believe I never got back to everyone! They did, in fact, end up being boys. They are at a new home now, as I can't have roos here.

To answer the question re: where they're from: Celestial Farms in Jefferson, Oregon.

Here is the little girl we kept, Millicent.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Pullet

 

[AprilTwilights]

Yes, she wasn't the one in question.

Here is a picture of all three of them...I think it's fairly obvious which two are the boys!

Mariah