Hen or Rooster

[gavzilla1]

These chicks are 7 weeks old... Mixed breeds. Can you help me identify these 3?

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[gavzilla1]

 

[gavzilla1]

 

[Farrier]

Unfortunately I would lean towards cockerel on all three

 

[gavzilla1]

Thank you. I got a straight run of 9 and if these three are roosters that makes a total of 5. Is one rooster to 4 hens too small of a ratio?

 

[swift081702]

5 Week Silkie, Any idea if this little one is a Pullet or Roo?

 

[Farrier]

Depends on the rooster. I think that the recommended ratio is 1:10 to prevent over mating, but I had a bantam roo with 3 hens for years without trouble, and my 3/4 size (bantam cross) with 4 hybrid hens never caused any problems either

 

[Farrier]

Swift -
Silkies are very difficult to sex, sometimes you don't know until they crow or lay an egg. However yours has a very wide comb for its age, which is also very pink (although a silkie's comb should really be dark mulberry coloured). Because of this I would TENTATIVELY lean towards it being a male.

 

[gavzilla1]

What specific characteristics should I be watching for when choosing the one roo to keep? They are only 7 weeks old, but at this point only one is showing an obvious Rooster personality. The others are pretty mellow and I wouldn't know they were roosters besides how they look. If over mating is an issue I could not keep any roosters.

 

[gavzilla1]

This is the one that has the most obvious rooster personality and I will probably need to get rid of him first.