Figuring the sex of chicks

[JA2626]

When will it become totally obvious if we have a rooster? They were purchased sexed, but 1 seems different in looks and aggressiveness than the others. Any clues of what to look for will help greatly. They are only about 3 weeks old.

 

[Wrigley62]

I'm wondering the same thing. I have 2 Buff Orpingtons. I got them the same day from the same place. One is definitely bigger with a larger comb and waddle. Is that a way to tell or do I wait to see if it crows or lays an egg

 

[chickenlover215]

one of my chickens has an extemely poofy comb looking thing im assuming its a rooster

 

[ChickiesInUtah]

I have no idea, but when I posted photos in the "what breed or gender is this?" room some experienced folks said I definitely had at least one rooster. I was astounded...to me they look identical to one another.

Good luck!

 

[aggiemae]

My two buff Orps looked completely different from each other since day one. One is much smaller than the other, has much higher tail feathers.and is far more aggressive than the other. Over time the two RIR's have feathered very differently from each other too. They are all 10 weeks old now and I am certain that they are all hens.

My understanding is that factor hatched chicks are not so carefully bread so you will get lots of variations within a given breed.

In our case, in addition to the factory hatch chicks, we have two "pure breed" chicks. One is a (very pretty) Wellsummer, the other is a Morans (who makes some sweet little sounds!). It was much easier to confirm they are hens by just looking at photos of pullets on the internet.

In the beginning I did lots of (often conflicting) reading on sexing chickens and my conclusion is that until a hen crowns or a rooster lays an egg the best we can do is make 'educated' guesses all the while hoping that the folks at the hatcheries are really getting it right 90-95% of the time.

 

[Erica]

3 weeks is a really useful age to tell.
Look at the combs of 2 different birds from above. If one is wider, thicker and has a tinge of red or pink then it's likely to be a boy.
If one is narrower and yellower than it would more likely be the girl.
If they're on higher protein feeds combs will develop earlier, so this may not be the best way to tell in that case.

I do this at exactly 3 weeks with a fairly high success rate. However even a few days later the girls may start to get colour in their combs, so it becomes harder to judge.

cheers
Erica

 

[Wrigley62]

Here are my two Buffs, I think I know, but, because I am new to raising chickens I would like the opinion of some "seasoned" chicken people. Two Hens or 1 Rooster and 1 hen? They are both the same age, 7 weeks old. Thanks

 

[Farmgirl20]

I am not sure about the sex, but they are beautiful!