Does Prince Charles not yet know that cockerels don't lay eggs?
I was once again amused, although I shouldn't be, seeing Prince Charles holding and discussing chicken at the shows. Please, has someone not told him cockerels don't lay eggs? They certainly did when he visited Arun Poultry Fanciers Show at Ardingly.
Many small breeders, or rather those who buy or save fertile eggs to hatch either under a broody hen or in an incubator have difficulty in sexing their own chicks. There are others who knowingly sell a mixed bunch as pullets chicks of 10 to 12 weeks of age telling potential customers that they are unable to tell the difference at such a young age. While it is true that different breeds vary in the development of the sexes there are many simple signs to tell the sex when they are between 3 to 4 weeks of age.
I have included photos of the differences in the heavier breeds but as yet have to build up a library of breed variation. In light breeds both sexes feather up very quickly, this is because they are akin to the Jungle Fowl which have to be able to fly and perch quickly to avoid predators. The differences in the sexes is that the male with show a redness in the comb and wattles even when they are only 3 - 4 weeks old. On closer inspection the head will be slightly larger and coarser and the legs and hocks will be larger than the female.
Heavy breeds originated from the larger Cochin and Brahma breeds which in their natural habitat nested on the ground and did not perch as did the Jungle Fowl, because in the areas where they were first discovered it was found that they have no ground predators. For this reason heavy breeds are very slow in feathering and earlier visual sexing takes place more quickly so that the males can be culled.
Rhode Island Reds and Light Sussex are probably the easiest of heavy breeds to sex, Orpingtons, probably because they bear little relation the earlier commercial bloodlines have become a little more difficult. A little more experience and skill may be needed but the principles are still very much the same.
This is an extract from Poultry Talk, the full article appears in the October 2008 issue of Feathered World
