The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Frieslandfilly on January 20, 2011, 01:29:23 pm
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This is the second year I have hatched out B/O chickens, but confess I still have difficulty getting the sex right, the batch I have are 10 weeks old now and I still cant tell the difference, I can make a guess after studying them for a while, I can usually sex other breeds fine but these are causing me problems!! What I am I doing wrong, the fact that they all have very fluffy rears and not any sign of tail feathers reaching for the sky makes it hard :-\
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Buff O's are just one of the ones that are difficult ::)
I would have thought by 10 weeks there would be obvious signs of reddening head gear though?
How many do you have? Can you post pics?
One of my Orpy chicks this year (not a buff BTW) started trying to crow at 9 weeks old! So that made it easy for me to sex him ;D
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Glad I am not just being thick then :), I had a study of them this morning and just when I think I have got it, I become unsure again! I will try and get some photos of them up, there are 12 altogether. The best hatch in terms of survival I have ever had, all 12 hatchlings have survivied and it has been the coldest of winters, amazing!
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I have been thing of getting some of these to hatch but will wait until I have a broody hen, they are such lovely birds. :chook:
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I bought a dozen B O dayolds, ready sexed, some years ago and even 2 of them turned out to be males. They are particularly difficult to distinguish and are not obvious by their combs. With mine, I did suspect for a few weeks that I had a couple of cockerels and this was because they had noticeably bigger feet and lanky legs. But it was only when the sickle feathers appeared near the tail, at about 20 weeks, that I was absolutely certain.
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I have to agree that sexing orps is a real pain.... unless that's all you breed that is
A few things i picked up during last year .....
Pullets usually get their wing and tail feathers before cockerels
At around 5 to 6 weeks, sometimes sooner, you will see definate comb development on the cockerels in most breeds
At 2-3 months you will see the hackle feathers developing on the males.
Cockerels have more pointed feather tips.
Cockerels are usually bigger by a few weeks old.
Pullets tend to have a smaller, round head, compared to the cockerels larger more angular one.
Cockerels usually have longer legs (look for spur development).
In saying this, nothing is 100% until they start to crow or not