How to tell a chick’s sex – is it a pullet (female) or a cockerel (male)
You just hatched a bunch of chicks. Perhaps you are only allowed to keep females (NO roosters). Or you only want egg laying hens. How do you tell their sex?
On a Wing and a Prayer?
If you do not have a sex-linked chicken breed (where the females are a specific color), you will have to use deductive reasoning to tell the sex.
A fairly reliable way is to use the wing shape and the type of feathers.
On this 10 day old Brahma/Australorp mix, you can see the difference between the primary feathers – the longer ones near the tip of the wing, and the secondary feathers – the shorter ones closer to the chick’s body. A pullet (female) will have longer, more developed secondary feathers, whereas the cockerels (males) will have shorter, less developed secondary feathers.
I really thought that this Brahma above was a female, but the secondary feathers are suspiciously shorter. But it was the runt, hatched a couple days later than the rest.
Let’s look at some others from the same hatched batch, waiting a little longer to see if it gets easier.
Wing Shape at One Month
The difference becomes more striking at one month.
This Australorp has developed secondary feathers that are almost as long as the primary feathers. This one is very likely a pullet/female.
The Buff Orpington chick above has fairly symmetrical primary and secondary feathers in a convex pattern, a nice sloping curve. No “V” or notches. This is likely a pullet/female.
The beautiful Australorp/Brahma mix above has a beautiful curve to the feathers. I am glad that this is likely a female, because it is the only Australorp in a batch of Buff Orpingtons. It also has the Brahma feathers all the way down its legs, which is unique.
All of the above turned out to be the sex that we suspected.
Sometimes you’re not sure
The chick above also has fairly symmetrical feathers, but there is a “V” between the primary and secondary feathers (although this could be from spreading them out farther). I originally though that this was a male because it had a strongly formed crown on its head. But it is probably a pullet/female. (Yes, it was a female).
Feather sexing chickens can be challenging and fun. If you are not in a hurry, wait and see how they turn out. If they are males, you can always eat them at 16 weeks, trade them to a friend, or sell them on FB or Craigslist.
I will update this article with my progress and to see if my guesses on the 10 day chicks are consistent at one month.
Join the Thriving The Future Community – Telegram Group
GrowNutTrees.com
Chestnut seeds for planting, chestnut seedlings, elderberry cuttings, comfrey crowns and root cuttings. Adapted to the Midwest.
Seeds and trees have “memory”. They thrived and reproduced in a certain climate.
Often when you buy chestnut trees or seeds online, you have to buy from nurseries in the Northeast or Southeast US, or the Pacific Northwest.
Take it from us, trees grown in those climates do not do well in Kansas.
Buying from our Kansas homestead, with nut trees grown and adapted to the Midwest, will make them much more likely to be successful on your homestead or in your yard.
Use coupon code “Thriver” at checkout for a 10% discount for Thriver.News readers!
