I was worried that 1, 2 and 10 are also roos, which would give me only 3 hens out of 10 chicks. I hope I am wrong and that you are right!
I just showed the wings because I thought the diversity among them was interesting. Some people say if they have 2 different wing feather lengths they are roos, and if all 1 feather length they are pullets. I dunno....
The Guess the Roo Game
yes that is true but u have to check them for that at a younger age about hatch-5 days. boys r short, long, short long but girls r even row for the secondary wing feathers. it has always worked for me with any breed i've tried it on.
here is a link that will explain it better with pics,
silkie
http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/reprod/ReproTech/Feathersex/index.htm
Yay!!! A link A link!!! Goingtherenowbye;-)
rotfl, i hope it helps, some peole say it only works on slow growing breeds but i've used it on all my breeds i raise. if i forget to check like i did this older brooder full of peeps i then check by pelvic bone to tell sex.
like yesterday i had a white silkie it's darn near fully feathered it looks some features male and some female. when i checked the pelvic bone it has a space between the bones that is wide enough to place my thumb between and rounded ends of bone, it's a girl. if it was a male it would just be a little space and be pointer end of bone tips. it's how i sex my mutated cockatiels also. a 80+ year old bird breeder taught me that years ago when i first got into breeding cockatiels, it has never been wrong and the best method to check if they r old enough birds and works on any species. the gap between the bones is to allow eggs to pass. most birds have to be at least 3-4 weeks old or older for it to be accurate so the pelvic bone has enough time to mature to tell.
hope that helps to for older birds.
silkie
Now I just need to get to know bird pelvic bones...
Y'know there's no greater gift in life than proper perspective...
This message was edited Aug 15, 2008 11:30 AM
Silkiechick - not to impose upon you, but can you post a picture of your putting your thumb on the place you are talking about? I am not precisely familiar with how to feel/find the pelvic bone on my chicks. I know where mine is - I bump it on the corner of my desk all the time! It's just that your method sounds good and I'd like to go feeling all my chicks, but don't know where to put my thumb to tell. They are I think between 3 and 6 weeks old, probably 4 weeks.
Thanks!
Claire
those babies went to the growout pens yesterday. let me see if i got a baby still here to show u see if i can find one of each still in the brooders brb.
ok, that was harder to take pics than i thought lol and my rechargeables kept dieing. i'll explain it too. take the bird in ur hand and flip it so u hold it upside down. u will be looking at it's face and belly, the wings and back should be in ur hand and it's butt will be towards u with it's head away from u. these r 2 polish babies(i think crosses by look of them hatched minutes apart). i think they r 3 weeks old now.
just above the vent is the pelvic bone it will feel like 2 bones comeing in from the sides at like a v-shape. i'll explain a little more too, the pics r not the greatest but may help.
this is a girl i can lay my thumb between her pelvic bone the ends of the bones comeing in from the side touch each side of my thumb. as she grows the space there will get bigger. it is also how i check if a pullet is a layer or not also. if not a layer her vent will be smaller and the space. my layers r about 2 times as big of space and the vent will be like 2 times wider.
this is a boy when u do the same thing with him i can only just barely fit my pinky finger between the ends of his bones. it will get slightly bigger as he grows but not by much. if he was a girl he would have more space to place a bigger finger there.
Wow, that is SO helpful! Thank you so much for the great explanation and the pics. I can see exactly what I need to do now. I can't wait to go home from work and try that method. Really appreciate your time on explaining that to me! I am sure others will benefit from this too!
I'll see if the pelvic exams match up with the head spots!
Claire
u r very welcome, i wasn't sure how to word it so i hope i explained it good,lol. on ur pics the wing feathers were grown in to much so i couldn't tell by that. since they r mixed they could show mom and dad features that can throw them off too, it's the only other way i know to check other than waiting for a crow or an egg.
hope it helps!!
silkie
oh the pelvic bones should be about around 1/4" above the vent give or take when u flip them upside down. it should be the only bones u feel and a soft belly above it. the only other bone would be above a few inches higher the bottom of the chest cavity so it should be easy to find. the girl when i moved feathers i could see hers through her pink skin so sometimes u can see them too.
Oh, silkiechick--you have been holding out on us! That is so great! I know that is how they do it in forensics--but it never occurred to me with chickens. Will it work with older standard birds--2-3 months old?
OK, I tried it with mine but maybe they are too young. I found the bones and they make a nice V-shape on all my birds. The only one that felt different was the single younger chick. All the rest fit my index finger pretty much exactly. I could feel the edges of the bone on each side of my finger when I pressed it in there. I think maybe they need a couple more weeks and maybe then the differences will be able to be felt? At least I know where it is now. A couple of them felt pointier on the tops (not between). I don't know if that means anything.
I am going to keep on feeling them and see if I start to notice any changes. I can tell that the birds you are doing it on are bigger than mine so that must be the problem for me. I am just too curious for my own good!!
Claire
Great explanation! Thank you. Now to go flip chicken....;-)
OK, while everyone is flipping chickens and feeling bones, LOL, i am rotflmbo on the "chick 5 legs"...
based on head shot i may alter my opinion. since they are mixed breeds, i will say you may only have three roos in the bunch... 3,6 & 8 if i recall...
claire, i think SC said they need to be mature, at least 4 weeks old for this to work... so pratice the skill and they will grow into it
yep, catscan SC is always holding out, got too much in her brain to share at one time LOL
hugs to you Mar!
tf
OK yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa thanks silkie, Thank goodness I dont have neighbors, I am heading out now to catch chickens to look at their privates. Mine are all at least 4 weeks old.
That would be so awesome if I only had 3 roos. I would be jumping for joy. #3 is absolutely the bravest and most inquisitive of the bunch. He(?) will come right up when I poke my fingers through the bars at him. He pecks at my fingers. He doesn't struggle as much with being picked up. I think his personality suggests roo....
Today I got 3 new serama pullets from somebody on BYC. She lives in Iowa and will be bringing them into town on Sept 6. I am sooooo excited!!! Two black and one black and white mottled.
TF....you realize this is YOUR FAULT!!!! You chicken-enabler you.....
That's great info silkie chick! I'm going to try it on one of my silky chickens that I'm in denial over. Pretty sure it's a roo, but since it's bearded I can still say that I'm not positive. Seems to walk upright a lot so..... I'll just try your trick and voila! It's about 4-5 months right now so perfect timing.
Thanks Silkiechick! Did I see you use this method on all your birds? What are the chances it will work on Peafowl, rather than waiting for the color on the necks for the Black Shouldered? Will have to wait a few more weeks to try it. Will be saving this info for later use. Think it will work?
TF, you sure get blamed for a lot, don't you?? Is it really all your fault? Or are you just a victim like the rest of us? lol
Cheryl - Pea
hard to tell...
She is our enabler, she loves her birds so much she wants us to share the same bond. She is a good friend and good person to have on our side. I just wish we could do something to help her with her neighbors. Maybe we do need a RU at her place and go on a witch hunt.
Maybe we could all transplant the neighbor 5 mi south. Kinda like Dorothy's house in the Wiz. Does said neighbor wear red and white striped stockings?
rotfl, i know it sounds weird to play flip the bird but hey it's better than waiting for an egg or a crow.
patch, if u can't tell post a pic i should be able to tell by a pic at that age.
pea, i've not tried it on peafowl, turkey or guineas but the 2nd 2 i can to see if it works if u want. guineas i have no clue how u tell anyone know? i got little keets and some bigger ones now. i'm wondering if it will work on them. the old breeder told me it would work on any bird so far it has been true for me but sometimes till ya get the hang of it, it can be a little tricky. once u do ya can check quick and know for sure.
Hey SilkieChick!
I was watching this thread all day at work, even though I'm not supposed to. How fasinating! I have two little chicks that I think are about 3 weeks old and I've been really curious if I'd be getting myself attached to little roos and have to give them up.
I just went out and invaded their privacy, but I'm not certain I'm feeling the right thing. So on these two, the only thing I could find --other than adorable fat belly and the sternum -- were bones that stuck out near the top of their legs, i.e. hip joint?... Anyway, if this it, they are SUPER far apart. Which would make me jump for joy in thinking they are BOTH girls!
My question is, does that sound like the right location? Since they were both so far apart, I'm worried I'm feeling the wrong thing. Kinda wish I had a boy to violate to know the difference... ~;-)
lol, yep. it should start about the top of the legs and come down to a v shape. where u want to check is between the bottom of the v where it comes together not the top. i hope u all find u have lots of pullets!!!
silkie
Thanks Silkiechick, gonna try it anyway once they are old enough & see if it works later when the colors start coming in. Lady I got the older chicks from went by the barring on the wings of the India Blues, but said couldn't tell on Black Shoulders until about 3mos when neck colors start filling in. What the heck, can't hurt to try ~ although the chicks may not like it much.
TF, should I start checking flights to TX???
ur very welcome and it never hurts to try. i have never had peafowl but hope to someday they are gorgous birds would love to have a flock of them!! mine some just squak cuz don't like to be flipped other than that they just hold still usually.
another thing we check but is not always fool proof,lol for chooks is... hold them up by the feet if they squak and try to grab ur hand and flap like crazy and holds it's self up it's a boy, if it sounds like it is yelling help,lol, lays right down, or fights a few sec then gives up and lays down it's a girl. most times it is right but not always. we also go by age, features and personalities, markings and such too but sometimes u can't always tell by that.
Thanks again! More info for my notes ~ putting in private blog too in case my puter crashes. At least then, I can access from any puter. Nothing worse than losing all your info. DS trying to fix virsus on faster puter now. Bummer, that one has all my pixs. Now all on CD's & hopefully not infected.....
Tons of info here ~ Just love it!!!
what kind of comp do u have? what windows and what virus's were found? what antivirus program do u have? and did u download it or how did u get it and how long ago? i hate them things,lol. i might be able to help u fix the prob. a virus can't attach to a pic if it is a jpeg ect still pic. it has to be like a media player video or something that plays. it can attach to like limewire and areas that r music downloads but it can't attach to any mp3's though not sure why but it can't.
DS working on it right now. He has a promised web project he needs to finish (taught well i guess, a promise must be met). He had to of down loaded it 1-2 wks ago. It is a pieced together puter. AVG - or something like that - anti virus programs show gone now, just need to clean out files, etc. Need to re-check all my pixs & few files I had on there to be sure they are clear before re-loading or putting on this slo-mo puter. Mine is Windows 98. He has millenium upgrade, which this ole thing can't handle. I allow no downloads on this one, as this is where I pay bills & keep all my excel & word docs.. this one can't do pixs from digital, so kept them on his. All should be good since jpegs. will know soon enough. Thanks, I may need to take you up on that offer.
Okay, with much objections, I flipped my chicks and--I just don't know. The layers are about 2 inches apart. All the pre-layers up to 3 months seem about the same. My Silkie is pretty small there--I've called him a him--just cause. His comb is still fairly flat though wide and he is just getting wattles. He is about 4 months old.
I'd be very interested to know what Silkiechick says. Since the silkie is small there, roo??? And since all the pre-layers same as layers, then hens???
Curious for when I go to check my chicks later.....and hope it works on peafowl...
Cheryl ~ Pea
Uh oh. I stated that badly--I meant all the pre-layers are like each other--I'd be doin the happy dance it they were all 2 inches. Some are a little narrower than others--but not enough to be sure. I am way on the wrong side of averages with my gender distribution. Tf says I have to have millions of chickens to even come out 50/50. I am game--but right now I am about 3 roos for every pullet. Except the Nankins--their I have 2 roos to 3 pullets--I think. Hmmm, didn't try the distance thing on them. They are so tiny. I will try on my known Barnevelder and Marans roos.
Thank you so much for the info SC! It sounds like everyone is having a fun filled weekend full of 'chick flipping'....lol! I can't wait to tell DH and kido's all about it......hee hee, that ought to keep them busy for a while. We have several that we are still guessing on, so it will be fun to see what the V says they are. : )
Christy
LOL Catscan! I saw the pic of your Barnevelder and Marans roo's....not to sure they are going to be as excited to be checked as you are to see what their V feels like...lol! Hope they don't scratch you!
Christy
post a pic of the silkie cat. yes they will not be exactly the same but once u get to know what u r feeling for with practice u should know right off with a quick check who is what. i'll take my cam with me tomarrow since i charged my batteries and see if i can do better pics on youngsters and adults to show u ones from the bigger pens. see if i can show u difference between layer and pullet not laying too. i'm better at takeing pics w/ my cam than mike so we'll see if i can get some clearer shots with lighter colored birds too. mabe that will help too.
silkie
So now we need a good group name -Chick Flippers Anon? Any suggestions?
I still haven't tried it. (Baaad Kelly)The youngest are right at around 16wks so I figure I'll just wait.
My name is Catscan and I flip chickens.
Hi silkiechick--I'll take a better picture today--but this is Riley my lone Silkie. Roo?
LOL!
My Name is Anjl... and I'm about to slip...and flip some chicks! :oD