Vent Sexing older chicks for caponization

[valjacobsen]

My chickens are 5 weeks, and I want to try caponizing the males. It's too early to be sure of sex based on appearance alone, so I was wondering if vent sexing is possible with older birds and if it becomes easier to vent sex at this age compared to at hatching.

My chickens are mostly Speckled Sussex (vent sexed at hatching, probably with some errors) and Partridge Cochin (straight run). Because it's for caponization, I don't want to wait on further development if I can help it.

Have read all the caponization threads here and am about to buy tools. If anyone has an opinion on that before I buy, I'd love to read it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You should be able to tell sex by comb color in both of those breeds at 5 weeks. The males will develop pink combs.

 

[Ruthster55]

Identifying/Confirming the Sex of the Chicks:

A good idea to get verification of the sex of your chicks is to post here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/what-breed-or-gender-is-this.15/

There are lots of people who are familiar with particular breeds there.
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Tools:

I think the consensus here is that the Chinese tools are the best. Unfortunately, they are not on Amazon.

However, you can find them on Aliexpress. Shipping may take a while, though.

https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20200618094541&SearchText=capon

This is the double set for cockerels small and medium -

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/329...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_