Need help sexing chickens around 2 months old

Demidog

Chirping
5 Years
May 16, 2014
273
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Macedonia
I bought my chicks from the local farmers market when they were a few days old and tried to wing sex them them after watching how to do it on youtube. This is my first chickens so this is a learning curve for me. Anyway, there was some that i was pretty sure were girls and others that i wasn't so sure about. They are all mutts and i bought them in 4 separate batches a few weeks apart. Now they're about 2-3 months old and I'm thinking some are cockerels but I'm not sure. I was watching another video on youtube where the woman was showing hens with straight rounded tail feathers and no red wattle, and males with big red wattles and drooping, pointed tail feathers.
Some of my chickens have red wattles and straight rounded even tail feathers that stick up and are not drooping, are these ones boys or girls? And I've got another which is one of the oldest ones with a really small comb that's kind of reddish and it's tail feathers are messy and pointed but short compared to the others, is that a boy or girl? This is confusing me
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I'll try to get some pictures ......
 
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Pictures and as exact ages as possible might help. Usually, the comb and wattle of a pullet don't start to develop until they're getting ready to lay, which usually happens between 16 and 24 weeks of age. So red combs and wattles much before that age are often a sign of it being a roo.
 
OK, i got some pictures. I'll explain about each one.



Male? This one is around 2 months old.









The one standing upright. Male? Also around 2 months old. It's tail feathers stick up, they are slightly pointed at the ends, but not droopy.










This one doesn't have a developed comb or wattle but it's tail looks kind of droopy like a male. Also around 2 months old. I'm hoping it's not a male, it's more puffy than the others with feathery legs and a wee tuft on it's head which i think is interesting and it's pretty friendly.






This is one of my oldest chickens, around 12 weeks old. I was thinking it's female but it's got a red comb so i don't know. I saw it sitting on an apple the other day, does that mean anything?







This one is the same age as the last one, 12 weeks, i got them together. This doesn't have a big comb but it's tail feathers are pointed and scruffy. I always thought this one was female. The other one grew much faster and started developing it's red comb earlier, but i was told because they're different breeds they'll develop at different rates.





This one i think is male, it's whole body shape looks male to me. But it's tail feathers are straight, even and rounded as opposed to droopy and pointed like the woman was explaining in the video, so i don't know.... It's also about 2 months old.







And this is the youtube video i was gong by:

If the ones with red combs are males then none of them have pointed tail feathers like the ones she's shown in the video. They all have rounded tail feathers. That's what's confusing me. Maybe it's different for different breeds or something??
 
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If the ages are correct, the all look pretty male to me with that much red in them. Is it possible some could be a bit older than you think? At four months eg. the white one could be a pullet getting ready to lay, but three is a bit young for that still.
 
If the ages are correct, the all look pretty male to me with that much red in them. Is it possible some could be a bit older than you think? At four months eg. the white one could be a pullet getting ready to lay, but three is a bit young for that still.



I started 'collecting' the chicks in the beginning of June, so they can't be older than that. The big spotty white one my friend bought, along with the all white one, before i got the black ones and she then gave them to me. They were about 3 weeks old when i got them so it's possible they're a week or two older than 12 weeks, but not more than that.

Do you think the black one I'm holding is also a male, even though it doesn't have a red comb?
 
The comb and wattle are quite small, but I'd say they're pretty red. I'm no expert though, so don't trust my judgement. When they start crowing or laying, then you can be pretty sure about what they are.
 
'Fast feathering' is a sex-linked trait if it is specifically bred for, otherwise not. With barnyard mixes, I sure wouldn't plan on it working. Pointed hackle feathers and longer drooping saddle feathers are sure things, and waiting for the crowing contests to start will be the final test. Most of your birds look like cockrels to me at this stage, but time will tell. Mary
 
OK, so the ones with the big red combs are definitely roosters then, that's 4, and possibly those other two with underdeveloped combs will turn out to be roo's too. Good thing my husband wants to get more, if they're all male then we've only got 5 hens out of these 11 chicks.

That brings me onto my next question. Our plan has always been to eat the males, so what's the best way to fatten them up? Also, when are they ready to be killed for the pot?
 
Five pullets out of eleven is good! Your cockrels will grow; good grower feed free choice, and time. Genetics will then determine growth rate and body type; they won't look like Cornishx broilers, but will be tasty whenever they reach the size you are shooting for. Mary
 

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