What age can you determine sex

[sdlacrow]

I have ~50 chicks with an assortment of breeds. Most are supposed to be sexed pullets but 20 were straight run and there may be sexing errors with the others. The question I have is at what age (weeks/months) can you be pretty certain about the sex of chicks? The breeds we have are BR's, BO's, RIR's, NHR's, EE's, and light brahmas--these are supposed to all be pullets, and dark cornish and cuckoo marans--straight run. They are almost 3 weeks old now.

 

[:D chicken]

u can try to sex at any age but the older they get the more accurate the guess will be and the more distinguishing features u can find on your chix

 

[Mahonri]

I always know for certain when they crow or when they lay an egg!!!

Look for comb color early in roos and big legs.

 

[melvin1208]

Look for spurs on the legs its almost the earlist way to sex them acuratly
spurs look like giant thorns

 

[Gonzo]

I have BR, BO, & RIR chicks. The Reds, I could tell around 3 weeks. The roo's got larger combs, and they turn a brighter red in color, all the others are 3 weekd old now, and you can tell who the roo's are. Their combs are larger (not much color yet, ) but the females haven't really got a comb to show for yet. I hope this helps. I know it can be stressful thinking you'll have a boatload of roo's. Good Luck!

 

[Gonzo]

spurs don't develop for months.. watch their legs & comb size..
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[Akane]

You really have to compare same breed chicks. Some are born with larger combs than others. I had one whole batch of standards that looked like roos when compared to my japanese bantams, which really have no comb until several weeks old or near laying age, but when compared to each other 4weeks later only one standard was growing a larger comb. Single combs and similar will also be easier than flatter comb types. With flatter combs you just have to look for red while other combs the size difference will be more obvious since they stand up on the head. If you compare same breed chicks I've been able to tell all of mine by 6-8weeks and usually have a good guess by 4weeks.

 

[sdlacrow]

Thanks everybody. The little beasties are getting moved out to the coop at the end of this week since our weather has been consistantly warm and they are growing out of their brooder. I'm going to take individual pictures as we load them up and compare pictures side by side as opposed to moving squaking chicks