How to Sex a Day Old Chicken

Baby chicks can be sexed at one day old.

Sexing newborn chicks is done commercially by skilled, experienced specialists who can process hundreds of birds in an hour, at a fraction of a second each. There are only two reliable ways to sex day-old birds. The first is to deliberately cross two breeds in such a way that they can be visibly differentiated by their plumage, a process called sex-linking. The second is to hold each chick upside down and manually inspect their sexual organs, a process called vent-sexing. This technique is much more difficult for the novice.

Things You'll Need

• Easily sterilized work surface
• Tissues

Instructions

Feather Sexing Sex-Linked Chicks

1. Hold the day-old chick gently in your non-dominant hand. Do this over an easily sterilized surface, as many of the chicks will leave droppings on your work area.

2. Grasp the wingtip in your dominant hand. Gently fan the feathers at the wingtip, holding them in place with your thumb and forefinger.

3. Examine the feathers at the wingtip. If the outer primary feathers are longer, and the downy insulating feathers are shorter, you are holding a female. If the outer primary feathers and downy insulating feathers are the same length, you are holding a male.

4. Compare color. In some cases, sex-linked crosses can be differentiated by the color of the chicks' down.

Vent-Sexing Chicks

1. Gently hold the chick upside down in your non-dominant hand. Professionals will squeeze out the chicks' embryonic droppings with a gentle pressure from their thumb, but this requires long practice. Home hobbyists can simply wipe the area with tissues, to avoid injuring the chicks.

2. Spread the vent area with the thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand.

3. Examine the inside of the vent. Males have a rudimentary sexual organ visible, a small transparent bulb. If this is absent, you are usually looking at a female.

Tips & Warnings

• Some males' organs are flattened and difficult to see, and some females have folding in their vents that can resemble a male organ, so laypersons will not generally be accurate more than 75 percent of the time with vent sexing.

• Feather sexing is much easier for the hobbyist, so it is worth purchasing sex-linked chicks, or breeding your own chickens for the appropriate characteristics.

• Infant chicks are extremely fragile, and can easily be injured during vent sexing. Handle them with great care.

References

• University of Kentucky Agriculture Department Poultry Extension; Small and Backyard Flocks; Sex-Linked Chicken Crosses; June 2010
• Mother Earth News; How to Sex Day-Old Chicks; Beth Bosk; February 2010
• University of Missouri Animal Sciences: Comparison of Pullet and Cockerel One Day Old Chicks