Tips for sexing EE bantam chicks...?

[HappyPlace]

I have 20 (less than 72 hour old) EE bantam chicks coming in the mail this week. Hens will be kept to old age, but all but one (possibly two) roosters will be eventually eaten.

Is there ANY way to sex these chicks? Will I just have to wait until they are older? How old would they have to be before there was some indication?

It would be nice to have some kind of idea now rather than waiting 5 months or more before they either lay or crow.





(If this is in the wrong section, I apologize.)

 

[Bantam Username]

You should be able to tell by the time their feathers are coming in, there are quite a few pointers although not always 100%.

Roos tend to have thicker legs than hens
They also develop their combs and wattles faster and the comb and wattle colour gets redder than hens

Hens tend to grow their tail feathers before the roos do.

All in all when they are 6 weeks old it should be easier to tell with just these signs alone. When they are older also the roos tend to be taller, strut more and will start practising to crow. Hope this helps.

 

[DMRippy]

try here

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=463817&p=1

 

[HappyPlace]

Thanks for the tips, Bantam Username. I'll have to watch for those signs. Is it fair to say that they're pretty solid indicators?

Thank you as well, DMRippy. I actually just found that post this afternoon and have been reading through the (many) pages.