Single hen

[Griffin]

This little lot are almost five weeks old. Three Light Sussex and two crossbreeds. When they hatched I'd muddled up the LS & cross eggs so I had no idea who was who, just had five identical yellow chicks I feather sexed them at a day old and that suggested four boys and one girl, the girl has turned out to be one of the crossbreeds and is very much a boy The other crossbreed has a big comb too, as does one of the Light Sussex so it's safe to assume three boys so far. As for the other two Light Sussex, I haven't a clue. They have no combs to speak of. None of the LS have tails. Having just had them all out for a photo session I think the two unknowns have slightly more feathering than the boy but certainly not a huge difference.

 

Opinions please I'll put the boys first for comparison.

 

First crossbreed boy:

 

The other one that feather sexing said was a girl! Not with that comb!

 

LS boy:

 

Unknown number 1:

 

 

 

Unknown number 2:

 

 

And I thought LS would be easy to sex

[Egluntyne]

I shall watch this thread with interest as I have some LS eggs incubating.

 

I reckon you have guessed right that Unknowns 1 and 2 are female.

[MitchB]

Hi Griffin

 

Our Oz is definitely a LS as well and we are girl, but not sure as she has a fair fluff of a tail????

 

 

 

Pic of the babies first 10 mins outside as a bit chilly. Lily the Buff Orpington, Splodge and Baby the Cuckoo Marans & Oz the LS.

 

Do you reckon going on yours Oz is male or female????

[Griffin]

How old is Oz? There's certainly more tail there than on any of mine.

 

If my unknowns were girls then I would've expected more of a tail by now.

 

I'm hatching more eggs in late May/early June. I'm going to make sure they're all sex linked or auto sexing to avoid all this

[Chickvic]

They look lovely - and have huge feet! I agree with Egluntine, the unknown's look more like girls.

[feemcg]

I think the 2 unknowns are girls.....the boys tend to have a bit more black on them. Heres a girl, and you can see a boy at the other side of the feeder with more black

 

 

and another with a girl and boy together...the girl has feathered up a bit quicker, with a bigger tail and the boy has more black down his back

 

 

edited to add....I've found that on the whole girls feather up quicker, and get their wee 'angel wings' at their 'shoulders' first. Also the tails are longer than the boys to start with.