Sooo much pooping

[NatalieC]

I'm considering getting some chicks (I'm not up for hatching just yet) and wanted some advice about which breeds are autosexing. I would really like a breed which is generally friendly and happy to be handled and wondered if anyone could recommend a suitable autosexing breed? I've heard that Legbars are a bit flighty and difficult to tame and the only other breed I know anything about which is autosexing is Welsummer. I would really love a red hen as I lost my lovely Gingernut Ranger last year and would love to replace her with another red girl (although I wouldn't only get one chick obviously!).

 

Thank you!

[Redwing]

Any breed that ends in 'bar' is autosexing, there is such a breed called a Rhodebar which I imagine originates from the Rhode Island red

 

Another option would be to get day old hybrids (as they are sex linked - not autosexing but the same idea - females hatch a different colour) but day old hybrids arent easy to come by

 

People do experiment with cross breeding to get sex linked chicks though so you could try a wanted ad on one of the various chicken forums for chicks from such offspring

[meezers]

I have a Cream Legbar and a Welsummer. The Welsummer is the most timid of my chooks. The legbar is a bit flighty and mad as a hatter, but lovely

I would guess that whatever you get as a chick will be fine as you will be handling it regularly. Why not get one or two of each? then you'd have brown and blue eggs .( eventually )

[NatalieC]

I did wonder if having them as chicks might help tame them a bit more so I'm a bot more reassured about having Legbars now. Another question I have is that one of our local poultry breeders sells hybrids day old chicks and says that these are sexed (because they are hybrids) - is this true and does it mean that it is possible to sex hybrids that early on? Does anyone know - he does say that in the event of the chicks being incorrectly sexed he will accept them back within the first month.

[meezers]

Well, the big commercial hatcheries sex and dispose of their unwanted day olds, so it's possible if you know what your doing, but as the breeder says, it's not 100% foolproof. If you don't mind exchanging chicks you may have got attached to, then go for it.

[Redwing]

Well, the big commercial hatcheries sex and dispose of their unwanted day olds, so it's possible if you know what your doing, but as the breeder says, it's not 100% foolproof. If you don't mind exchanging chicks you may have got attached to, then go for it.

 

Hybrids are sex linked (as I mentioned above) they are the offspring of a genetically silver parent and a genetically gold parent (ie light sussex and Rhode Island Red) this produces offspring where the boys are yellow and the girls an amber colour so yes you can reliably buy them as sexed day olds - the problem comes where you have a chick that is not easy to tell 100% so thats where a mix up may occur but this should be really rare

 

If you get day olds you'll need all the equipment to care for them and indoor accomodation for them till they are about 6-8 weeks old. Expect one or two not to make it

 

A good age to get chickens at is 14-18 weeks, thats a great age as they will become tame but are strong enough to cope with most things

[NatalieC]

Thanks for the advice, I would be able to do this as I have the necessary equipment, lots of suitable shelter/space etc for them until they are ready to join my big girls. I had considered that there might be a few that don't survive and had already explained this to the children who understand that we might not end up with what we started with.

 

This would be my third lot of chooks so I'd really like to get some babies to grow on as I've only ever had 16 weekers before and would love to see their development as well as build up a really good relationship with them!