Tail feathers? Edited to add lots of pictures.

[Pinky]

#2 and 3 look roo-ish. #4 and 5 look like pullets. I'm not sure on #1.

 

[ginormous chicken]

OK I am confused! I got 2 chicks from the pullet bin @ the local feed store. One has tail feathers and one does not. The Cuckoo Maran has tail feathers. The Golden Laced Wyandotte does not. Does that mean she might be a boy? Or is it that they are only a week and teh GLW's tail father will come out?

 

[Pinky]

Quote:
Maybe the one with no tail feathers is younger?
I wish my feed store had a pullet bin

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
When comparing feather development to sex chicks you really have to compare like with like. As in, the chicks should be the same age and the same breed.
Some breeds feather out much faster than others so you can't do a proper comparison.
When looking for tail feathers to sex chicks, I don't compare till 3 weeks old. That seems to be when the difference is most obvious.
When I had Marans chicks I compared at 3 weeks and the difference was obvious. I've never had Wyandottes so can't say about them...

Wait two weeks and post some pics!

 

[steffpeck]

I think the feathering thing varies on the breed. I can usually tell by how the feathers come in on the wings, but with my last hatch the one I thought was a girl ended up being a boy, because the boys feather in faster than the girls in some breeds. Based on that, I am going to guess, that #1, #3 and #4 are boys and #2 and #5 are girls.

If you look at picture #4 you can see how the feathers are almost all the same length, and then there is a 2nd row starting that are the same length, generally that is a rooster based on my experience. On picture #5 you can see how the feathers look like layers of feathers with different lengths, I call this "angel" wing because it reminds me of Angel Wings, and again based on my experience this generally means it is a pullet. Sexing them by the feathers this way works the best if you can do it when they are a few days old when their feathers are coming in, even at 2 weeks this is pretty easy to see. But as you can see in the first 3 pictures it is harder to tell when they are older.

I have used this method when picking chicks out of straight run bins and most of the time it is correct.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

My pullets always grew tail feather's faster than the boys did.

 

[babyrnlc]

Quote:
That is my favorite chick too!I have set myself up to think it is a boy so I won't be dissappointed.

 

[babyrnlc]

Would you start noticing the leg difference at this age yet? Cause the legs are about the same size still (compared to the same age chicks, the two different groups.)

Oh and there is another kink in this. We are not sure on the ages. They were all in the brooder together and there were 1 week olds and 1 day olds. We THOUGHT we got the 1 week olds (he did not want to sell the 1 day olds), but #4 and #5 are clearly younger, or maybe not?

 

[babyrnlc]

Quote:
uh oh, if that is the case, they are all roos! They are such little piglets. They woke me up the other night at 5 am. Cheaping. I thought the cat got in the brooder or the heat lamp came off. I got up and they were scratching frantically, their feeder was empty (it was full at bedtime). I refilled it and they ate and went to sleep! They eat every hour or two.

 

[FiveHens]

I think that you cannot know. At that age, we were desperately trying to figure out who we could get attached to. None of our guesses were correct. You must love them all unconditionally, or love none of them.
They are such cute, fuzzy little babies, though!