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[thebdj]

So with my 11 chicks now at just over 2 weeks old, they are developing quite nicely. Much bigger than when they hatched, egg teeth dropped off and wings beautifully formed. I have 2 silkies, 5 lavendar araucanas and 4 gold brahmas.

 

The thing I have learned about sexing chickens is to not even bother with silkies. Wait for an egg or a crow. End of. But for the others, is there anything you can tell me to look for as a helping hand? Obviously I can try and get some pictures up so you can help me out but is there anything I can do to try and pick them out myself? Or is it too early in their development to notice anything yet?

[the Lurker]

hello! firstly, lav aracaunas are gorgeous! well chosen

 

we got a selection of eggs for our first hatch and we got 2 lav arac eggs both of which hatched, they are now about 3 months old and those 2 have become our favourites

 

we got 1 girl and 1 boy and we first started noticing differences when they were very young and had just started feathering up. the girl grew her feathers much quicker and got almost all of her body feathers in the time it took the boy's wings to fully develop! don't know if this is always the case though so don't rely on it! (although we did have the same thing happen with our 2nd hatch which was all speckled sussex chicks)

 

the main indicators other than the feathers were things like the behaviour, head gear and leg size. the boy was always a bit more outgoing and stood much more upright, he also grew his comb a LOT quicker. his is a pretty impressive size now (for a young lad) and the girl has nothing.

with the legs, in most breeds you can see that the boys have very big, thick legs and stompy feet in comparison to the girls', but our boy has fairly slim legs. however they do look longer than the girl's...

 

hope this is some help good luck!

[Guest]

My silkie chicks are 5 weeks old. They are an autosexing strain, and when they hatched, from their markings, that is, dark stripes down their backs for girls, I thought I had two boys and two girls. A week or so later, I started to think maybe three girls and a boy, because three had a dark spot on their head and one had no spot at all.

I changed my mind a couple of times in between, but a couple of days ago I noticed that 3 had pointy tails, and one had a round tail. Changed my mind again this morning, but then this afternoon (!) I noticed that the three with pointy tails have dimpled crests (such as they are) and the one with a round tail has a smooth one.....

Was reading up on sexing silkies on the 'net yesterday, and everything says it is notoriously difficult, so we shall see......

[ninalewis]

Hi, I'm new to this, with 5 chicks that are about 2 weeks old. One of them is a few days older than the rest (a Buff Orpington), and he/she definitely acts in charge. He/she is the first at the door when I open it, and runs over to us when we pick up another chick. He/she is always standing up tall and looking around. We were hoping for all hens, but I wonder, is what I describe behavior of a male? Or is it really too early to make a guess? We love these guys, and would hate for any to go back, but I suppose the earlier the better. Thanks!

[Redwing]

If they are an autosexing breed then the markings they had when they hatched would be the most reliable way of sexing them