success with feather sexing?

[abserbean]

I just had a broody hatch out seven eggs for me, and I attempted my best to feather sex them. I know it doesn't work for every breed, but three of the seven followed the pattern for pullet, 1 for sure looked like a roo, and three I wasn't sure but was leaning pullet. I know the chances of me getting six out of seven pullets is pretty much wishful thinking! Now they are a week old, and the three that I thought were for sure pullets are feathering much faster, and the little (I think) roo is still a fuzzy chick with barely any feathers.The three uncertains have quite a few feathers, but not as many as the "pullets". Does anyone have success using feather sexing/fast feather growth to sex their chicks? I can try to get up close pics of each, but I know they are a little early to attempt sexing by color, etc. They are three EEs, two BLRWs, and two OEs. Thanks for any advice!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Feather sexing only works for chicks specifically bred to be feather sexed. Those are usually production breeds like white Leghorns and Production Red.

Trying to feather sex a chick that hasn't been bred for it is like trying to sex chicks by color when they aren't sex-linked birds. You might as well hold your wedding ring on a string over the chick and see which way it swings--it's about as accurate.

You might have gotten lucky especially if your babies have feather-sexable birds in their genetic makeup, and cockerels do sometimes feather later than pullets. But it's really so random that you can't use it to judge. For instance, I had a group of 15 EE cockerels. Out of that group, ONE feathered more slowly. The rest kept pace with the pullets.

 

[abserbean]

Oh, well! I guess I will just have to be patient then. Not an easy thing with baby chicks. Hopefully I will get a few pullets out of this batch!

 

[debid]

Leghorns are fast feathering + feed efficient producers. They are often used in making feather-sexable chicks since it requires a fast feathering MALE + a slow feathering FEMALE. So, the very process of breeding wing-sexable chicks proves that slow doesn't = male and fast doesn't = female. But, a few poorly worded postings on the Internet coupled with nice photos of wing sexable chicks have fueled some folks' insistence that it's a universal truth. And, just like with anything, there is the tiniest shred of truth in there to be blown way out of proportion. Two chicks (one male, one female) with the same feathering rate genetics may well show a slight difference in how quickly they feather that aligns with gender. But (a huge but) if you aren't the breeder, you'll really have no control nor insight into the expected rate.

 

[abserbean]

Thanks for the insight! Since five of my chicks are by def. mutts (EEs and OEs), there isn't much hope then. I was really hoping for an easy tell, but we will just enjoy watching them grow and hopefully figure it out in a few weeks. I did watch a video on vent sexing, but decided I don't want to know that badly! With my luck, they are probably all cockerels anyways.