Roo or not to roo?

[PaintedDreams]

Ok I am so confused. I have a chicken pen full of what I thought were all hens. 4 of them we hatched out this summer and the other 8 are definitely hens. Our daddy roo died this summer after I had given all of the chicks that I was sure were roos away. I kept 4 of the chicks that I was sure were pullets, but now that I have gone and gotten another roo, I'm not so sure anymore. I am afraid I may have 2 hens and 2 roos. The 2 in question had slow comb growth and have not made one attempt to crow even though one of the other chicks (that I gave away) was crowing at 2 weeks of age. So I figured if they are not crowing by now they are surely hens. We hold and play with our chickens routinly so I was surprised to notice the bumps on the insides of their legs tonight. This is what has me questioning their gender. I've never seen them do anything rooish. And they run from the older hens all the time. I so hope they aren't roos because we are madly in love with one of them.

 

[BooBear]

got any pics?

 

[fratmor]

I 've read that hens can have small bumps that will not develop into a full spur

 

[gryeyes]

Female chickens have spurs too. They just don't grow into big ol' killer, slashing, fightin' spurs.

 

[akcountrygrrl]

I had a Speckled Sussex hen that grew sharp, pointed 1 1/2 inch long spurs. So, spurs are not an indication of sex. Every chicken will have spur nubs on their legs.

Post pics and maybe we can tell from that.

 

[PaintedDreams]

I don't have any current pics, only from when they were little peeps. I will definitely get some and post them when I figure out how. How do you tell for sure if they are hens or roos? I am apparently not a very good gender guesser as I had a pair of "male" rabbits in a pen together for a year and a half before they had babies! I have been a vet tech for 10 years, you would think I could figure this out. lol I know you can vent sex them when they are little, but what about when they get big. Thank you for all the replies. I feel much better knowing that "Muffy" and "Camo" may still be girls. Our new roo has perched himself on the ledge and doesnt seem interested in eating and drinking. He just wants to stay the heck away from the mean old ladies who peck him on the head. He is 7 months old and very docile. Do I just leave him be and let him eat when he is hungry? I am not here all day to watch and see if he eats so he may come down and eat when I am not out there. He is really cool so I don't want anything to happen to him. Who knew chicken rearing would be so challenging? lol I LOVE my chickens!

 

[Toril]

Quote:
I know some women with impressive moustaches!

 

[donrae]

Depending on the breed, you can tell by color. Most times you have to wait til they hit puberty and the boys start growing those long, pretty saddle and hackle feathers, combs get bigger, and they start mounting hens. BUT....hen's combs also grow, and get redder, so unless you have some idea of what your breed is supposed to look like, you can be fooled. Someone used to a smaller straight combed bird would think a leghorn female could be a male, simply cause leghorns get huge combs. If you post a pic, many people here can help you sex them.