Wyandotte Bantams - Sexing

[British Raj]

Hi All
Hoping one of the Wyandotte Bantam experts might kindly help with sexing these chicks .. all six of which are doing well so farl ... touch wood!
They hatched on the 11th / 12th of April (Easter Eggs!) so they are 10 weeks old.

Here is a reference picture of the dad. A good blue lace.

And the mummy hen with her chicks ... She is a buff lace if I am not mistaken.

And the chicks ... all consistently labelled with the same letter in each picture

I have a hunch but would like to know what you think please. Many thanks.

 

[British Raj]

One more showing the dad's colours ... taken a couple of days after they hatched.

 

[dinosaw]

Hi Raj

C, D and E are most likely boys judging by comb and wattle development alone. A B and F are almost certainly girls. That is my opinion from rearing a lot of birds though not specifically Wyandotte's.

 

[British Raj]

Thanks, Dino. That was my hunch too.
I must say though ... I have been looking hard with my glasses and a magnifying glass but struggling to see any hackle feather and wing primary feathers length difference between C,D and E versus A.B and F which is really confusing me. Maybe too early for hackle feathers I suppose. In terms of behavior, they all seem to have a go at each other for a few seconds every now and again ... Just pecking order issues. Nothing serious. I will come back and post when the conclusive crowing begins.
It is my first time with raising chicks so a steep learning curve. Thanks for your help.

 

[Hen-Gen]

Yes, BR, I agree with dinosaw.
Patterned varieties like this have what is called ‘the slow feathering gene’ so it can take a while to sex by feathering as opposed to Leghorns, for example, which have the fast feathering gene.
Patterned breeds usually have the slow feathering gene because when they grow up it gives better definition and crispness to the pattern be it lacing or pencilling.
You can see this effect most clearly if you compare a Cuckoo Maran with a Barred Rock. They both have the same barring gene.

 

[British Raj]

Good info. Shame about E because it is the most cheeky and vibrant chick in the batch.When it was about 4 weeks old, I was distraught one evening to see the normally docile and mild mannered, very caring mummy hen shaking E about from side to side. It looked like she had got it by the head, lifted it clean off the ground and was sweeping it from side to side in the air!!! I rushed out to help the chick but closer observation showed that it had grabbed on to the lower wattle on the mummy and the poor hen was only trying to free herself.

 

[MrsBiscuit]

I also agree. In my experience boys are always more cheeky than girls!