telling the difference between hens and roosters

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Sunshine Chick 1

Sunshine Chick 1

In the Brooder
10 Years
Mar 12, 2009
81
1
39
Longwood, Florida
My husband and I bought 12 4 day old chicks from a breeder who is 2 hours away from us. We told her that we did not want any roosters just hens. She said if you lay a baby chick on it's back and they don't stretch out their legs then it is a hen. So she did that with 6 RIR and 6 Buffs. This was back in Sept. Now they are almost 5 months old and we are finding out that there is one buff crowing at 6am, and 3 RIR's that have just as big combs and have seen one RIR crow in the afternoon. My question is to those that breed chickens. Has anyone ever heard of this method of determining the sex of chickens? If I buy baby chicks again I just don't want to have the same problem.
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Far as I know, that method is complete baloney. You'll get a 50/50 of it being male or female.
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The thing to do, is by the time they're 5 weeks and older, check their combs or post photos of them here. The comb size, and in a later age, the body type will tell who's a cockerel, who's a pullet.
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To check yourself, if one is already crowing now, you should check them for bigger, redder combs and pointed, shiny feathers growing out of their back and dangling off the sides. (saddle feathers)
 
I've heard of that method and many other old wive's tales. The problem is that so many people actually believe them.

Your best bet is to buy pullets that are already sexed. That generally means hatchery chicks or sex links. Do not buy straight runs, ever! (unless you want some roosters)
But even sexed chicks have a margin of error of about 10%.
 
There are only a few true breeds you can sex without probing. Barred rocks are one. Sexlinks are not pure but you can sex them at hatch. Most as said you can tell after 6 weeks as males will have more comb.
 
Quote:
And I have read the version of the OWT that says differently...that if they relax and stretch out then they are girls. Just shows you how accurate the OWT are!
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Yeah, she fed you a line of bull phooey. There are certain breeds that can be sexed early on, Wheaton Marans you can tell around 2-3 weeks the boys will be dark and the girls light. Welsummers as well, if I am not mistaken, but most of them you're stuck playing the waiting game.

Get from a hatchery but even then it is not 100% sure you will have all girls. C'est la vie!
 
Ahhh..... if only it were so easy. I always tell people when I sell chicks that I cannot sex them but if they want to believe any of the OWT that they have heard, they are more than welcome to try it. I figure if it were that easy the hatcheries wouldn't hire people to vent sex them.
 
I have a buff orpington and it crows every morning. But it doesnt have a spur. Cant tell if its a rooster or not.
 

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