What do you look for when sexing chicks?

[Henriettta]

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.

This is very interesting! Thank you so much for replying. As of right now, I am laying in bed whilst reading, and I have an inkling to get up and go test this theory. Maybe tomorrow...
Right now I have 2 partridge, 2 wheaten chicks that are coming to the age you mentioned, and I am dying to see if I can't make an early prediction on one of them. Wouldn't that be something!
I'll also have a few more coming up from the brooder, in case these ones are hard to tell. Very interesting.
I may have to screenshot this and save it in my phone, so that I remember this info!

 

[Henriettta]

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.
View attachment 2656184
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. View attachment 2656202
BR (barred rock) cockerel (also auto-sexing, but just using it for comb/wattle comparison. 7 weeks. Not my picture!
View attachment 2656214
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!

Feather sexing looks almost too easy! Of course, like you said, there's a lot of flaws. In my case, whenever I get new chicks, I don't necessarily know who the parents are, or they are breeds like EE or Ameraucana. Which I'm not so sure this method works on? It sure would be nice!
I find myself checking the wings for clues anyways.
You've given me an idea for my barred Rock hens, though... Would you say that this works for any barring gene? Or just the purebred barred rocks?
Asking for my barred Cochin/EE/rock's chick who didn't come out barred

 

[Henriettta]

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

I feel this in my soul hahaha

I tell myself, even as of right now, this time it will be different!

 

[K0k0shka]

I feel this in my soul hahaha

I tell myself, even as of right now, this time it will be different!

There's always one last pathetic shred of hope left until they crow...

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Feather sexing looks almost too easy! Of course, like you said, there's a lot of flaws. In my case, whenever I get new chicks, I don't necessarily know who the parents are, or they are breeds like EE or Ameraucana. Which I'm not so sure this method works on? It sure would be nice!
I find myself checking the wings for clues anyways.
You've given me an idea for my barred Rock hens, though... Would you say that this works for any barring gene? Or just the purebred barred rocks?
Asking for my barred Cochin/EE/rock's chick who didn't come out barred

Honestly, I know nothing about genetics... so...

 

[Henriettta]

Honestly, I know nothing about genetics... so...

Hmm.
I'll ask Hennifer what she thinks lol

I'll find out soon enough!

 

[Henriettta]

There's always one last pathetic shred of hope left until they crow...

Then you think, with that measly 1%
"Well I heard of hens crowing sometimes" LOL

 

[K0k0shka]

@SageLeBert you said you had partridges... Would you mind posting some pictures, for reference? I have partridge chicks right now too (3 weeks old) and am dying to figure them out, and seeing pictures of others that are older might help...

 

[MysteryChicken]

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...

Occasionally partridge will feather out like that, but generally partridge aren't really supposed to have black heads. It's referred to as Moore Head, & is a disqualification if you're showing.

Even the smallest amount of black, or blue in the breast can give away the gender. This is a Blue Wheaten Breed, Malay.

 

[Henriettta]

@SageLeBert you said you had partridges... Would you mind posting some pictures, for reference? I have partridge chicks right now too (3 weeks old) and am dying to figure them out, and seeing pictures of others that are older might help...

Mine are only 3-4 weeks old, too. To be clear, I'm under the assumption that partridge is a feather pattern?