Silver Laced Wyandotte sexing

[CelticMoon1]

Robin'sBrood :

My SLW roo had a lot more white, especially in his wing feathers, than my hen did when they were chicks. Look in the pic above, see the pullet on the bottom right and how much darker her coloring is than the SLW cockerel's? Look for large patches of white on the wings for the boys. Hope that helps!

Yes I noticed this tendency as well, especially in the wing bow. I found it not to be 100% reliable though. I do find that they are quite easy to sex by comb & wattles, I guess each to his own

Another color tendency in SLWs is that the males often have a columbian-pattern black neck.

It has never occured to me to try feather sexing dotties as I thought that was mainly a sex-link thing

I will definately have a go at that this spring! I have seen examples, but is there anyone out there with pics? I have only seen a movie and would love to have pics available for later reference!

Someone told me that female SLW day-olds tend to have "egyptian eyeliner" around the eyes - anyone have any experience with that?​

 

[emjay]

I wonder if the eyeliner thing is true. I have a new chick, her mom is a SLW and her dad a EE, she/he has the eyeliner. very nice.

 

[CelticMoon1]

Quote:
I think most EEs have the eyeliner though... Well, we'll see

I'm hatching quite a few chicks this year, both SLW and GLW and am definately going to check for the common signs that are suppused to tell the sex of the chick - and compare to vent sexing results. I'm going to test
1) Eyeliner theory
2) Sexing by wing feathers (someone said that it could be dependent on the line of the birds you have)
3) Head pattern

'Cause let's face it; if they can be sexed reliably by wing feathers no way am I going to vent sex 100 birds...

 

[KDH]

So, does the wing feather/slower tail feather development thing noted for the SLW also hold true for GOLDEN lacec wyandottes? And if so, would one be able to tell at roughly a week old?

 

[CelticMoon1]

Quote:
It does

You should be able to tell by 1-2 week old judging by the poorer tail/wing feather development (and you can see some tendencies in comb/wattles and legs too, just not as obvious to the untrained eye). For anyone interested I have a list of traits in 4-6 week olds too

 

[KDH]

Quote:
It does

You should be able to tell by 1-2 week old judging by the poorer tail/wing feather development (and you can see some tendencies in comb/wattles and legs too, just not as obvious to the untrained eye). For anyone interested I have a list of traits in 4-6 week olds too

Thanks! Totally interested in the other traits - I'm learning here, so this is a fun challenge and interesting. I'll post pix of my GLW chicks mid week when they're a week old - and I'll tell you all what my guess is as to gender based on the feather stuff, and you all can weigh in.

Thanks! This is fun.

 

[CelticMoon1]

Quote:
4-6 weeks

Male:
Sturdy legs
Medium sized pinkish comb
Wattles starting to hang down in a curve
Stumpy, curved tail
Downy back with a thin line of stub feathers down the centre
Poor feathering on side of neck, crop and flanks
Bare wing bows, showing wing covert quills

Female:
Fine legs
Small yellow comb
Wattles practically non-existant
Long pointy tail
More advanced feathering along centre of back
Well advanced feathering on side of neck, crop and flanks
Wing bows covered with small feathers

 

[KDH]

Quote:
It does

You should be able to tell by 1-2 week old judging by the poorer tail/wing feather development (and you can see some tendencies in comb/wattles and legs too, just not as obvious to the untrained eye). For anyone interested I have a list of traits in 4-6 week olds too

OK, here's an "experiment" - I took these pix last night - when the chickies would be five days old. Maybe too soon to tell, but it DOES seem that some very definitely have more wing feathers than others. If this is so, and the wing-feather-enthusiasts are hens, then here's how it should shake out:

Girl on right, boy on left...


Girl on left, boy on right...


Any thoughts or opinions? If this seems accurate, I gotta figure out a way to mark them so I can tell them apart and ascertain as they grow up if the wing-feather-observation is proving accurate for me...

 

[CelticMoon1]

Quote:
I agree with your sexing - if you look at the legs the ones you've marked as boys look like they have sturdier legs too. You could use small zip ties on for instance the roos (you just cut off the ends that stick out so that they can't pull them tighter). You will have to keep an eye on them though and change the zip ties as they outgrow them. There are also pigeon bandettes or click rings available that fit day-olds and bantam bandettes or click rings for when they get a bit larger.

 

[KDH]

Quote:
I agree with your sexing - if you look at the legs the ones you've marked as boys look like they have sturdier legs too. You could use small zip ties on for instance the roos (you just cut off the ends that stick out so that they can't pull them tighter). You will have to keep an eye on them though and change the zip ties as they outgrow them. There are also pigeon bandettes or click rings available that fit day-olds and bantam bandettes or click rings for when they get a bit larger.

Great, thanks! I think I have just the thing to use, too, for thier little legs. I'm gonna have to educate my eyes on the leg size. I can see it in the pictures, but I'm not at all sure that I can see it yet on the live chick. I'll keep studying the little critters.

Thanks for the input. We'll see what happens, and who turns out to crow (i.e., moves to the freezer) and who doesn't.