Speckled Sussex feathering/gender question

[matilda19]

Hi, ive read a lot about how the amount of white in a speckled Sussex chick's breast feathers might indicate gender. I have four 5 week olds and two have very little white :

And two have much wider and thicker white on their chests:

Other than that they seem to be very similar and developing at the same rate. Is there much significance to the amount of white being more likely a cockerel? Thanks in advance for any thoughts and opinions!!

 

[matilda19]

 

[BantamLover21]

The white doesn't indicate gender. Right now, they look like pullets. However, 5 weeks is a little young to be certain of gender.

 

[TeeMom]

I had 16 speckled Sussex chicks last summer and the ones with more white at a young age DID indicate male with my bunch. It was true with every one of them. I banded the darker, suspected females and waited to confirm, but I was right with all of them.

 

[matilda19]

I had 16 speckled Sussex chicks last summer and the ones with more white at a young age DID indicate male with my bunch. It was true with every one of them. I banded the darker, suspected females and waited to confirm, but I was right with all of them.

There are a couple of older (years old) threads on this site that pretty much indicated the same thing: solid white = more likely males. Did you happen to notice anything else like slower to develop tail feathers or anything that went along with the white chests? Right now mine look and act alike in all ways save the breast feathers. Thanks in advance!

 

[drumstick diva]

x2 Bantam Lover

 

[TeeMom]

There are a couple of older (years old) threads on this site that pretty much indicated the same thing: solid white = more likely males. Did you happen to notice anything else like slower to develop tail feathers or anything that went along with the white chests? Right now mine look and act alike in all ways save the breast feathers. Thanks in advance!

I didn't pay close enough attention to slower feathering. There was just such stark contrast in those that had a lot more white than others. None of mine had a solid white breast like yours pictured above does. They were just interspersed feathers. I read a few things after I already had my suspicions saying the same thing, so I banded the suspected females and waited. We butchered all of our males last fall...not one of them was banded and none that I kept was without a band, so there must be something to it.