Chicken Chat

Breeds include:  Barred Plymouth Rock, Bielefelder, Cream Legbar, Wheaten Marans, Salmon Faverolle

Auto Sexing male breeds such as 55 Flowery Hens, Barred Plymouth Rock, Bielefelder, and cream Legbar possess lighter feather color than their female counterparts. 

Salmon Faverolle and Wheaten Marans can be sexed at 10-14 days of age by the wing color that develops.  Males will only have black and white wing colors.  Females have a mix of white, brownish, and limited black feathers on their wings.

Breeds include: Amerucana, Brahma, Easter Eggers

Pea combs appear at the base of the beak and extend towards the top of a chicken's head. Pea combs are smaller than other combs and are fairly tight against their heads.  Males have three connected rows of caruncles that look like rows of peas side by side.  Females have only 1 row.  The "peas rows" are little bumps, and are uniform in shape and size as juveniles. As the bird matures the comb grows, sometimes losing its neat, ordered appearance and becoming a large globule on their head.

Breeds include:  Ayam Cemani, Barnevelder, Barred Plymouth Rock, Bielefelder,  Cream Legbar, Frizzle Cochin,  Orpington, Marans, Rhode Island, Salmon Faverolle, Sussex

Combs are absent as newborns.  Cockerels’ combs develop faster and often begin to redden as early as 3 weeks of age.  Around 5-6 weeks of age, their comb becomes a nice big red flag making claim of being a male.  As pullets develop combs, they appear yellowish orange. Pullet combs will turn bright red closer to point of lay.  Comb sexing at 5-6 weeks of age works best if you have multiples of the same breed to compare and contrast the developmental differences. 

Note: Ayam Cemani and Onyx Sundance single combs remain black.  Thus, you can only judge by the size of comb and not the color.

Breeds include: All

Since chickens are not able to sweat, they cool themselves through blood circulation.  Their waddles and combs are highly concentrated with capillaries and veins allowing overheated blood to pass through. The air cooled blood reduces the chicken’s internal temperature.  Thus, waddles are a bright red color as they age.

Wattles are absent as newborns.  Cockerels’ wattles develop and often begin to redden as early as 5-6 weeks of age.  Hen wattles are a sign of maturity.  Hens wattles will turn bright red/pink when closer to point of lay (4-9 months in age).

Breeds Include: Barred Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island, Wyandotte, Orpington, Sussex, and Brahma.

Heavy Asian, American, and English chicken breed cockerels have tail feathers that are stumpy, curved; slow to develop.  While, pullet tail feathers are long,  straight; quick to develop. This sexing method is approximately 80% accurate. 

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Since  Mediterranean and other light breed cockerel have tail feathers that are curved, but only slightly shorter and slower to develop than pullets, those breeds can not be sexed with this method.

Breeds include: All  (including bantams such as Silkies)

DNA can determine sex using feathers, two or three drops of blood or eggshells from newly hatched birds.  If you do not want to wait for your chick to grow older to confirm sex, A DNA test is the only 99.9% accurate sexing method that applies to all breeds of chickens. 

Some breeds, especially Silkies, are not able to be sexed by external characteristics. For those living in the city,  our sexing guarantee  coverage helps ensure the family doesn’t  get  stuck trying to home an unwanted rooster.  However, for some families, the emotional connection is strong after raising the chick for 3-6 months an surrendering their beloved rooster can be avoided through chick DNA sexing. DNA testing is a larger financial investment and is typically considered for families that do not want to develop a long term bond before identifying the…

There are various traditional sexing methods to assist to identify male/ female chickens.  Different methods are used based on breed, age, and comb types.  Traditional sexing methods vary in percent of accuracy. While sight sexing can offer clues, it is often uncertain until crow or egg laying.  Traditional sexing methods keep families searching for clues in the sexing mystery until crow or egg gifting.  Investing in DNA sexing is the only truly accurate method.

Breed: Rhode Island

Male chicks have lighter shade on their down over the web of the wing, but female chicks do not. After the chick's down is shed, it will no longer be visible.  The size of the spot varies greatly, leading to 10% inaccuracy.

Breed: Barred Plymouth Rock

The "barring" plumage pattern on Barred Plymouth Rock chicks allows the males and females to be differentiated at birth.  The white dot on a female’s head is a defined spot…

There are various traditional sexing methods to assist to identify male/ female chickens.  Different methods are used based on breed, age, and comb types.  Traditional sexing methods vary in percent of accuracy. While crest sexing can offer clues, it is often uncertain until crow or egg laying.  Traditional sexing methods keep families searching for clues in the sexing mystery until crow or egg gifting.  Investing in DNA sexing is the only truly accurate method.

Breeds that use this sexing method: Polish

The Polish breed is known for its headdress called a crest. Inspecting the shape of the crest reveals their sex.  A female chick's crest is round and full and located at the front of her head, while a male's is oval and runs more toward the back of his head.  This sexing method is about 80% accurate.

There are various traditional sexing methods to assist to identify male/ female chickens.  Different methods are used based on breed, age, and comb types.  Traditional sexing methods vary in percent of accuracy. While wing sexing can offer clues, it is often uncertain until crow or egg laying.  Traditional sexing methods keep families searching for clues in the sexing mystery until crow or egg gifting.  Investing in DNA sexing is the only truly accurate method.

Breeds that use this sexing method: Barred Plymouth Rock, Coronation Sussex, Rhode Island, Speckled Sussex, and Wyandotte

Not all breeds are able to be wing sexed. The gene must be bred in their DNA. The rate of feathering and plumage color is carried on the Z chromosome. When the primary feathers (bottom row closest to the wing’s edge) are longer than the coverts (top row of feathers), the chick is female.  When the primary feathers are the…

There are various traditional sexing methods to assist to identify male/ female chickens.  Different methods are used based on breed, age, and comb types.  Traditional sexing methods vary in percent of accuracy. While auto-sexing offers a high rate of being able to sex, it is offers 95% accuracy which leaves a 5% chance of a rooster. Traditional sexing methods keep families searching for clues in the sexing mystery until crow or egg gifting.  Investing in DNA sexing is the only truly accurate method.

Breeds that use this sexing method:  55 Flowery Hens, Bielefelder, Cream Legbar

Thanks to the geneticist Reginald Punnett, who during the First World War mastered the technique of cross-breeding chickens carrying the barred gene (B) with others to produce sex-linked chicks with plumage differences that could easily be distinguished. Sex link breeding only works for the first generation of chicks.  The value of an auto-sexing breed is that…

There are various traditional sexing methods to assist to identify male/ female chickens.  Different methods are used based on breed, age, and comb types.  Traditional sexing methods vary in percent of accuracy. While vent sexing is mostly accurate, it is often uncertain until crow or egg laying.  Traditional sexing methods keep families searching for clues in the sexing mystery until crow or egg gifting.  Investing in DNA sexing is the only truly accurate method.

Breeds that use this sexing method:  Standard sized breed chickens.  

Vent sexing should only be attempted by professional sexers.  There is a risk of prolapsing the chicks vent resulting in death if done incorrectly.  Vent sexing only works on days old chicks. After that, the chick's lower digestive tract will distend from eating and growing which blocks the sex organ from view.

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Venting involves squeezing the feces out of the day old chick, which opens…