Sex Link hen is a Rooster!

jha31452

In the Brooder
7 Years
Dec 6, 2012
16
1
24
Central Florida
I am a new chicken owner that lives in the city. Therefore, I purchased Red Star (sex link) chickens from My Pet Chicken so I wouldn't have to worry about falling in love with a chick and then having to give him away when I discovered I had a rooster. Well this morning I heard this terrible noise, only to find that one of my "hens" was crowing at 5 weeks old! How can this happen? I thought sex-link chicks were a sure thing! I am heart-broken.
 
At 5 to 6 weeks, if a mistake was made, the culprit should be obvious. The cockerels are quite white in over all appearance and at 5 or 6 weeks, they will sprout red wattles and a red comb while the pullets, who have large areas of reddish brown, will have no comb or wattles to speak of and what they do show will be quite yellow in appearance.


There is one "mistake" in this batch too.


 
That is exactly what my Gracie looks like! She He is the largest and the most aggressive. If this is the typical color for a sex-link cockerel, wonder why they included him in my order for all hens? Just frustrating.
 
The mistake was made moments following hatching, when the chicks come out of a tray and into shipping boxes. It was a mistake. Pure and simple.

MyPetChicken is not a source nor a hatchery. They are merely the middleman, taking orders and sending the orders on to Meyers Hatchery, for the most part. The error was made at Meyers, more than likely.

There's not much you can do. I don't think they can send you a replacement, but at least you could photograph the chicks, as I did, and send them the picture as evidence of that which you are complaining. Best case would be a small refund, I suppose.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for your responses. Since they are so young, I'm still keeping them in the house. When it comes time to move them outside, I'll find a good home for him.
sad.png
 
Most hatcheries only guarantee a 90% accuracy rating for sexing baby chicks. It is terribly difficult to tell the difference at that age with 100% accuracy. Rooster "junk" is extremely small at that age and easy to miss, but finding that is the only way to tell the difference. I've learned to always expect some error when ordering just females. It lessens the disappointment just a bit.

Although sex links should have been easier to spot I would think due to the color difference between male and female. Did your chicks all look alike when you received them or was your rooster always a different color?

That said I'm sorry that you have to re-home of him. I hope you can find a good home for him where you can visit once in a while.
 
Keep in mind that these are my first chickens, ever...... All the little chicks looked similar--cream and red; but this one was almost all cream. Had I been a little more knowledgeable (and more experienced), I might have realized immediately that there was a mistake. But now I've invested much time and affection and it's too late.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom