What do you look for when sexing chicks?

[Henriettta]

This is for the sake of curiousity, and that I genuinely want to learn. I think it is just such a niche thing, and I've never seen what others see until we are close to a definitive "crow". How do you do it???
See, I'm a dairy farmer, and I'm used to reading cattle's body language, and disposition. Heck, I can tell a bull from a heifer by the shape of the hooves 9/10 before they've even made it all the way out of mama!
But when it comes to poultry? No dice or too late.

If I were to introduce a newcomer to my farm, and teach them how to "read" a cow, I would tell them something along the lines of
"Ears, eyes, nose, feet", as an introduction of what to look out for.

(Are the ears perky? Like satellites?
Are the eyes bright, tired, squinted?
Is the nose clean? Wet? Dry? Square? Narrow?
Are the feet healthy? Running right at you? )

So when it comes to sexing chicks, or heck, even telling the difference between a pullet and young rooster (aside from the crow), what would you tell a newcomer to look out for?

 

[Quaicken108]

Development around the face is best when really young. The boys tend to develop faster, gaining a redder face and bigger comb and wattles. When they get to 12+ weeks, cockerels (boys) saddle and hackle feathers are pointed and the girls are rounded. These are key things that newcomers can pick up quite easily.

 

[Henriettta]

Development around the face is best when really young. The boys tend to develop faster, gaining a redder face and bigger comb and wattles. When they get to 12+ weeks, cockerels (boys) saddle and hackle feathers are pointed and the girls are rounded. These are key things that newcomers can pick up quite easily.
View attachment 2656109

Am I correct in being under the assumption that saddle feathers begin to appear in their correct shape at around 9 weeks?

 

[Quaicken108]

Am I correct in being under the assumption that saddle feathers begin to appear in their correct shape at around 9 weeks?

Sometimes but they wouldn’t be easy to distinguish. Usually 12ish weeks is good!

 

[MysteryChicken]

I had an EE cockerel saddle as early as 4½ weeks.

I use several different sexing methods, but Wing Feather bud sexing is the one I use more frequently. Each breed, & cross with both genders have specific feather growth patterns, & variations which makes it alittle challenging. But I got this technique down, & wing feather sex accurately at the rate of 97%.


I sex chicks by comb/wattle size, & color when certain chicks reach about 4 weeks old.

Feather color is a good one with specific breeds, & crosses.
AmberLinks, Red Sex-Links, & Black Sex-links are a few examples of auto sexing types of crosses.

Barring Sex-Linked cross method: If you breed a solid colored rooster, such as an Australorp to a Barred Rock hen, you get Sex-linked chicks, with males having headspots, & females being solid black.


BB Red/Wildtype, Partridge, & Wheaten birds are sexable at about 4-5 weeks old when breast plumage grows in. Males will have black breast feathers, & females will either have salmon, light cream, or white, or brown with lace, & stippling.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

This is what I look for.

1. Some breeds are sex linked (super easy to tell) meaning that cockerels and pullets look different from birth.

A few sex linked breeds are:
The red and black sex links
Sapphire Gems
Barred rocks
Legbars
Rhodebar
These are just off the top of my head, there are tons of others, I’m sure.

Feather sexing

Feather sexing only happens when a rooster with fast feathering is crossed with a hen with slow feathering. A cockerels feathers will look different than a pullets. Not my picture! It also has to be done at a very early age.

Stance
A cockerel will have a more proud, upright stance. A pullet will not have as high/upright of a stance.
(Note, this is not a fully accurate way to sex chickens, it just can help you get an idea)

Behavior.
Cockerels will act a bit more brave than pullets, and might not startle as easily. Again, as said before, this is just to keep your eye out.

Comb and wattle growth.
This is what I usually judge off of, especially if all I have to go off of is a picture. A cockerel will grow a larger, redder, comb and wattle than most pullets of the same age.
A picture of my Welsummer, 7 weeks.

BR (barred rock) cockerel (also auto-sexing, but just using it for comb/wattle comparison. 7 weeks. Not my picture!

There also won’t be this big of a contrast most of the time. Luna (the welsummer) just had a nice, small comb.

Hackles and saddles.
At 12 or so weeks, a cockerel will develop pointy hackles and saddles, and @Quaicken108 shared a diagram. They won’t look probably quite this contrasted, as I think the photo is of a full grown hen/cockerel. But it helps you get the general idea.

And then the final one. Lay or crow. A rooster will crow, a hen will lay. (Surprise!)

Anyway, these are what I usually look for, please forgive me if they are wrong. Thanks!

 

[K0k0shka]

The male chicks are whichever ones are your favorites. That's the most reliable method



(underlying explanation: males are bolder and more adventurous and when young socialize with humans better than females do)

 

[K0k0shka]

BB Red/Wildtype, Partridge, & Wheaten birds are sexable at about 4-5 weeks old when breast plumage grows in. Males will have black breast feathers, & females will either have salmon, light cream, or white, or brown with lace, & stippling.

I had a hard time sexing my Partridge Orpington last year. His breast came in pencilled at first, then eventually some of it was replaced by black feathers, but only in the middle. I have a new batch of Partridge Orpingtons this year (3 weeks old now, from the same breeder) and am dying to figure them out, nervous that they might all be boys... Looking at pictures from last year, it seems that the head and neck turned black more clearly and reliably than the breast. Is the head and neck color used to sex the partridge pattern? Not sure if that would help since black there is temporary, and won't stay black on either sex when mature...

 

[Henriettta]

The male chicks are whichever ones are your favorites. That's the most reliable method



(underlying explanation: males are bolder and more adventurous and when young socialize with humans better than females do)

Isn't this the truth. I've noticed this bigtime. Which is why I always try to socialize the unsocialable I do not enjoy chickens that hate me! Hahaha

 

[K0k0shka]

Isn't this the truth. I've noticed this bigtime. Which is why I always try to socialize the unsocialable I do not enjoy chickens that hate me! Hahaha

Oh definitely. And trying hard to resist and ignore the friendly ones. I inevitably fail though, and have my heart broken over and over...