Why isn't feather sexing accurate? *pics*

You're getting a lot of good info on the topic! While it is true that in order for feather-sexing to be 99% reliable, you need to breed for it, there are general rules that are mostly accurate.

I find that most breeds of chickens have males that are extremely slow to feather their tails. Females will start sprouting tails within the first week, and quickly have an adorable little fan. Males generally will have a little fuzzy nub up into their second week. I've raised more than 10 varieties of chickens (both bantam and standard) and have noticed this distinct pattern. I wouldn't bet my house on the rule, but it's done pretty well for me as a whole.

Another feathering phenomena that I have noticed in male feathering patterns is bald shoulders. While the females are busy feathering away along their backs in nice and interesting lines, males generally are doing an unpretty job of feathering, especially on their 'shoulders'. Mine usually will have bare skin with weird quills sticking up willy nilly well after the girls are into the swing of feathering. Poor guys

Hope that helps!
 
I am learning so much from you all - much more than from any chicken book! Pele - interesting! I hope that the tail feathers thing doesn't ring true for my particular birds, because then I have 5 roosters of 5 total chicks!! None of them have any tail feathers at all at 1 week old. I'll keep watching for that for sure. I wonder if it is different for Araucanas because they lack the tail. 3 of the 5 are that breed, the other 2 are a Silkie and a Showgirl. I have noticed that one of the Araucana has shoulder feathers where the other ones don't, and interestingly enough it is the same one that has the "girly" wing feathers. It would be so much easier if they could just be born with pink toes or blue toes. I will certainly keep everyone posted! On a totally different note - anyone have a cure for a chick that is constipated? I've tried oil on the beak, warm baths, yogurt, egg yolk twice a day... it is on medicated feed and I am going to get unmedicated feed today to see if that helps.
 
I have about 10 breeds of birds that I work with and can tell you there are some distinguishing behaviors that I have observed that can influence my decision on male or female but each breed has its own challenges unique to itself but after hatching and raising so many I do have a formula I use to determine sex and can say it is about 90% accurate by 4 weeks.

I am doing polish this year and that is all new to me though.

I do Red Bourbons also and can sex them by 6 weeks fairly well.
 
Chickened,

Would you mind sharing some of those tips? I understand it varies breed to breed, comes with experience, and isn't accurate, but it would be nice to have some reference points to look for.
I have Araucana (rumpless large) and a silkie, if you have any specific tips on sexing them. Thanks!
 
With silkies forget it, lol


I watch the way they walk, the way they act toward each other, (roosters know roosters) posture when challenging each other and basically behaviors of adult chickens that are obvious when they are adults specific to males or females and I can see those behaviors in chicks. You have to spy on them though to see them in a natural condition, they usually freeze or act scared if they know you are watching. This is by no means a science but I use it with some degree of accuracy. Another thing I use is the shininess of the feathers.

With Ameraucanas the legs are a giveaway, roosters get huge feet early on and males get color leakage on the backs that hens never get. Solid color Ameraucanas like lavender are a bit harder to tell over the traditional wheatens.

It all revolves around details and the observance of the minute ones.
These are the wing coverts of black sexlinks. Knowing the sexes of them you can observe them and see behavioral traits and know with repeated phsysical features which one does what. In this case the one on bottom is a pullet and the top one is a cockeral.



Chickened,
Would you mind sharing some of those tips? I understand it varies breed to breed, comes with experience, and isn't accurate, but it would be nice to have some reference points to look for.
I have Araucana (rumpless large) and a silkie, if you have any specific tips on sexing them. Thanks!
 
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MA Mama - you can't use the tail rule when the chicks don't have tails!
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Mine were pretty evident by comb growth. Probable boy at 5 weeks with his comb starting to raise up:

Definite boy at 5 weeks with red comb:



Sister (left) and brother (right) - he's even more feathered in here than she is!


And now:
 
I did not come here to be made sport of!!!!
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Okay, okay I deserve that! (So, when the tail feathers come in on my tail-less birds...) Seriously though, all these pics are really helpful!

Anyway - as far as behavior goes, I do see that one of the Araucana chicks is more aggressive with the other chicks, like by stealing food morsels that stick out of their mouth, chasing them down for it, even dragging the little silkie by it's foot one time for no apparent reason. It also chases my kids AND my dog - like REALLY chases the dog - looks like a grown chicken running so fast. It was only 1 week old yesterday. Would that behavior be the type of thing that a rooster chick would do? Obviously there is no science to this, I am just wondering....
 
I don't know what perfect feathering is, but neither of my now obviously boys had it.

Neither of my boys were aggressive as chicks. They only now, at 14 weeks, raise hackles at each other, but they leave it at that. One is very skittish and has always been that way, while the other is bolder and more approachable.

Raising pullets, I have always had one that stood out as the ringleader or bully. They seem to have much more alpha behavior as babies than the boys, in my experience. Boys develop alpha behavior later when the hormones really kick in.
 

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