Wheaten ameraucana 2 week cockerel

[jjjennejjj]

This chick is only 2 weeks old, but is there ANY way it's a pullet? I would guess 100% roo, but I don't know why people say to wait. Do birds that exhibit male qualities morph to female qualities later?

 

[nuthatched]

Two early to say yet.

 

[GoosesGeeses]

You have to wait a few weeks, at very least if you had another same age same breed to compare it to, sometimes you can tell because males have smaller feathers, because they grow slower

 

[Yardmom]

Sometimes chicks have physical features visible to the eye that show they are male. More often than not they don't. This chick does not have any visual signs such as a red and large comb compared to others of the breed.
Feathering differences can be genetic. There is no way to follow the genetic line unless you have several generations related to this bird.

 

[debid]

That one is looking dark and I would expect it's a male.

I still won't say it's 100% yet. It isn't splotchy, after all. By the time the chest feathers arrive, though, it's abundantly clear on these dimorphic patterns.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

I've had difficulty finding examples online of Wheaten chicks to check color, so it's difficult to find anything to compare yours to at just 2 weeks.

At this point, looks like the color could go either way, but I do agree the amount of dark feathers make me think high probability cockerel.

With many chicks, there isn't any color difference between male and female. Typically the comb is most telling, so that's what people wait for.
Even some sex-link and auto-sexing birds can get mixed up if the color/pattern isn't obvious enough, or if the color genetics aren't very good.

Since the chick is still mostly down/fluff, you'll need to wait a little longer to color sex. I'm not sure if that'll be a week, or a month, as I unfortunately haven't had any wheaten or salmon chicks to observe.

 

[debid]

Looking at the size of the shoulder feathers, I'd expect chest feathers to emerge in another week. And note, the shoulders ARE patterned.so that's why I say it might just be a darker pullet. They aren't always super clear so early.