Gender Guess- 3 week light sussex has me stumped

[Jayteetee]

This is Chickaletta. Chickaletta has been observed chest bumping a few times & is getting pecked by other chicks (has been separated to prevent injury).
He is 22 days hatched in these photos. What sex do you think Chickaletta is?

 

[Jayteetee]

Here it is at 6 weeks! Comb is orange, wattles are pink, chunky yellow legs

 

[AinaWGSD]

Looks like a pullet to me. At three weeks I would expect more redness if she were a cockerel. That's not to say she couldn't be a he, it's still a bit early to tell. Females will also chest bump to establish dominance though so the behavior you've observed isn't really an indicator of gender.

 

[SilverBirds]

Looks like a pullet now, but it's still a little early.

 

[friednotscrambled]

pullet

 

[friednotscrambled]

I think at 4 weeks it is too early to tell unless you are extremely familiar with that particular breed. another 3-4 weeks and you should be able to see some definite signs of gender.

 

[SilverBirds]

Its wings are quite short & its tail is slow to feather! Is that indicative of gender?

No, unless they were specifically bred for it.

 

[Jayteetee]

For gender, I do not think the breed change will make any difference.

I am not sure that chick is a Light Sussex or a Splash Barnevelder. The patterns of colors in the feathers look wrong to me for both options, but I don't think there is any way to know for certain yet. Many chicks get different patterns in their feathers at different ages, so it will be interesting to see how this one looks in a few more weeks and months.

I'm not sure what color the legs are in that picture, but Sussex should have white legs and Barnevelders should have yellow legs (Leg color could rule out one of the possible breeds, but will not prove whether the chick does belong to the other breed.)

It’s got pale yellow legs.. not as yellow as my blue barnevelders though. Flick back a few pics to see this chick standing

 

[NatJ]

It’s got pale yellow legs.. not as yellow as my blue barnevelders though. Flick back a few pics to see this chick standing

Ooh, one of those tricky ones.

Chickens with the genes for white legs can have light yellow ones sometimes, partly caused by what they have been eating. And chickens with the genes for yellow legs can definitely have light yellow legs or even white ones, caused by a different selection of things they have been eating (and for adult hens, also caused by laying eggs: the color goes into the egg yolks instead of the legs).

I'll fall back on "see how it looks as it grows," which is a frustrating but common thing when dealing with puzzling chicks.

 

[Jayteetee]

Ooh, one of those tricky ones.

Chickens with the genes for white legs can have light yellow ones sometimes, partly caused by what they have been eating. And chickens with the genes for yellow legs can definitely have light yellow legs or even white ones, caused by a different selection of things they have been eating (and for adult hens, also caused by laying eggs: the color goes into the egg yolks instead of the legs).

I'll fall back on "see how it looks as it grows," which is a frustrating but common thing when dealing with puzzling chicks.

Thank you so much for all the knowledge! I learn so much from here. I do enjoy the mystery though- as agonising as it is