Rhode Island Reds

[broomrider]

I have 4 RIR's about 5-6 weeks old. They were a straight run. When will I be able to tell which ones are roos? I'm new to layers.

 

[mamatomany33]

The when is really subjective, but there are clues you can look for now. I was given 7 straight run chicks last summer. At first, they all appeared to be hens. Then in the fall, it turned out that 2 of them were roosters. We knew this by their early crowing. Then, over the winter, we identified spurs on the backs of 2 birds legs. Ugh, more roos! ... And finally by February, 6 out of the 7 were confirmed boys.

And THEN, in early MARCH, our last remaining chick decided he was going to announce that he was a boy!! He was the most docile, easy going bird in the flock, and one morning he woke up with a huge comb, massive legs, long neck feathers and a crow to put any rooster to shame. How it escaped us for almost 10 months is beyond me, but I chalk it up to being a newbie

In reflection, I can totally see all the signs we should have been looking for, but chose to blindly ignore them because we had "assumed" they were hens.

Look at the comb. Males develop larger combs in the 3-6 week range. Also, roos tend to develop feathers in patchy clusters, while female chicks develop feathers more evenly. Keep an eye on the tail feathers. Males are more pointed straight up than females. The females will be more "spread out." Look at the feet. Boys will have bigger feet (as with most living things) The legs will also be thicker and have the beginnings of spurs (like spikes) out the back of their legs.

Once you observe the physical, start looking at the behavioural ... Male chicks will tend to be bolder and more aggressive. They are harder to catch and pick up than most female chicks. Also, male chicks can begin crowing at six weeks, but female chicks will only make soft clucking noises. And even if there isn't a distinct crowing sound, there can be a low, gutteral "moan" coming from the boys, rather than the higher pitched peep of the girls. And finally, when startled, male chicks tend to stand their ground and give a sharp warning. Females tend to scatter or crouch down. This type of behaviour can be witnessed very, very early in the game.

And of course, the ultimate test is definite crowing or definite egg laying

Good luck with your birds! They are a lot of fun and addictive!

 

[broomrider]

Thanks! Two of them have bigger combs and the start of waddles. Their tails are long and kinda pointy but they aren't sticking straight up. I don't see any spikes on their legs yet and I really can't tell much difference in the size of their legs. As far as the addiction goes, I ONLY wanted 4-6 hens and now I have 7 pullets for sure and 4 I don't knows! And this is my first year!