Slow/Fast Feathering Breeds

[anniebananie]

So I've heard a lot about how you can sex chickens from day one by their feathers if they are from a fast-feathering father and a slow-feathering mom. But my question is, how do you know which breeds are slow-feathering and which are fast? I think it would be neat to be able to create your own crosses that could be sexed at birth, but that is one essential piece of info.

Thanks for any help!

Annie

 

[tadkerson]

Click on the link below. Go to the bottom of the post. There are a few breeds listed. Just because they are listed does not mean they will be slow or rapid feathering.

The best way to determine if your birds are slow or rapid feathering is to check them at hatch and observe the father growth as they age.
Then you will know for sure.

The second type of sexing that uses rapid feathering and slow feathering is tail feather sexing. This type of sexing will require waiting 10-12 days to sex the chicks. When tail feather sexing is used in conjunction with wing feather sexing, the sexing accuracy is very high. Once the chicks have reached an age of 10 days, the breeder must compare the size of the tail feathers. In rapid feathering chicks, the tail feathers will be much longer than the slow feathering chicks. The slow fathering chick’s tail feathers may not show or will be less than one half inch in length.

You can also check the wing feathers- the rapid feathering chick will have much longer wing feathers than a slow feathering chick that are the same age.

Read the section on feather sexing.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information

Tim