A lot of people are curious about how to sex chicks so they don’t end up getting roosters. Honestly, there aren’t many ways for most people to accurately tell the gender of chicks until they’re a bit older. There are, however, some pretty silly myths that supposedly tell you whether the chick is a cockerel or pullet.
Spoiler Alert: They don’t work!
Read on to find out what actually is a fact and what’s a myth. If you have older chickens you can read about sexing them here.
Vent Sexing – Accuracy 90%+
Vent sexing chicks is both an art and a science that’s done almost entirely by experts working for hatcheries. There’s a significant risk of injury to the chick if done improperly and it’s not something I would recommend most people try.
Sex Links – Accuracy 99%+
Chickens have certain genes that are passed along one of the sex-determining chromosomes (the chromosomes that cause the difference in genders). With a basic knowledge of how these genes work you can breed chickens together to create chicks that can be sexed accurately at hatch based on differences in appearance. These are called sex links.
Sex Links defer from autosexing chickens in that they are only sexable for the first generation.
How to Sex Chicks Myth #1: Wing Sexing
Chances are you’ve seen something on the internet that says you can look at the wing feathers on day old chicks to tell their gender. While this is a myth, it IS based on a fact.
There is a sex-linked gene in chickens that results in rapid feather growth. Crossing a rooster with the rapid feathering gene to a hen with a slow feathering gene results in chicks that can be sexed at hatch by wing feather growth.
One cross that results in chicks sexable at hatch by wing feather growth is a Leghorn rooster x Orpington hen. It’s important to note that you will never be able to use this method with pure breed chicks – all chicks will be a mixed breed.
Autosexing – Accuracy 50% – 99%+
Some breeds of chickens are autosexing, meaning that the chicks can be sexed with accuracy at hatch based on the color of their down feathers AND that it works with every generation. However, to maintain the autosexing qualities the chickens must be carefully selected and bred to make sure the differences in chick down are clear.
Without selective breeding, autosexing traits are lost which results in low accuracy for sexing chicks.
Tail Feather Growth – Accuracy around 70%
These chicks are the exact same age from the exact same parents. The chick on the left who is just sprouting tail feathers is likely a cockerel. The chick on the right with significant tail growth is likely a pullet.
After about 1 week of age, many pullets will start growing in tail feathers while cockerels will still have little fluffy butts. This is one of the early indicators of gender.
However, I have a number of cockerels that feather in just as quickly as pullets so this is NOT always an accurate indicator of gender. A recent straight run batch of 53 chicks had each and every chick feathering in at the exact same rate.
Another caveat: Only compare chicks of the same breed. Different breeds will feather in at different rates.
Comb Development – Accuracy around 95%+
These bantam chicks are both 5 weeks old. The black chick is a pullet and the white chick is a cockerel. His comb is noticeably pinker and larger.
Around 4 weeks of age, the combs and wattles of cockerels will start “pinking up”. They will usually show a little growth of the combs and wattles too. Generally, this is a VERY accurate way to sex chicks.
Pullets will show little comb growth and coloring before 12 weeks of age.
How to Sex Chicks Myth #2: Body Curling/Hanging
Some neighbors came over the other day to pick up 8 chicks from me to start their own backyard flock. I watched with amusement as they held up a chick by the scruff of the neck and then announced it was a girl. At which point I informed them that “method” was a load of chicken poop.
Both cockerels and pullets will either curl up or hang loosely when held by the scruff of the neck. You can get either response from the same chick.
This is the first article that I have found giving a “rough” sexing on chicks at a week old…. and I have at least one rooster!!!! I gently checked his vent promptly upon seeing the difference in his tail feathers.
Given the risk, and that they had all been already vent checked at birth; I did not want to check them at all.
But, after reading this article and seeing the difference in their feathers, I opted to take the risk and gently check under his hood.
Thank you for this very helpful article, again!!
I knew with 5 chicks, I had hoped for about a 50% chance of having a male!! And, I got my ONE! Yaya!
So thankful to the Lord, and now I hope to have a good broody hen in their to hatch the eggs for future generations of chickens!!
I like how the Almanac suggested keeping good old broody hens for watching over the flock, hatching and mothering, rather than just eating them all. Good suggestions online!
You’re very welcome and congrats on getting the cockerel you wanted!
Good broody hens are worth their weight in gold. Mine get to live out their natural lifespans, however long that may be.
thank you for calling out the internet myths! we sell chicks at our feed store that we self hatch as “straight run”, to watch the new chicken customers that come in fondle the chicks determined they can sex them through “something they read” on the internet they know is a fact is amusing. having grown up with chickens i know its all crap but they never listen.
You’re very welcome!
I have one single chick that i hatched from a batch of five, sadly the reason for such low development rates was because my rooster was killed by a fox, a duck and one of his hens also met the same fate, i have some of this hchicks half siblings that are now two months old and turns out the feather sexing į did on them was mostly correct į have two pullets and two cockerels, though it is hard to sex this lone chick cause i have no one to compare it to, from this information im 90% sure that she is a pullet!
Best of luck!
I ordered four Easter egger chicks. It’s been a week and one has tail feathers whereas the other three have no tail feathers. Is it possible that one that has not grown tail feathers might still be a pullet?
It’s definitely possible! Tail feather growth isn’t 100% accurate. Keep an eye out for comb development in the next few weeks which is much more accurate. Also, since they’re Easter Eggers, males tend to get reddish feathers across the wingbows and that can be an early tell too.