4 week old mixed bunch o'chicks - see many roos?

[technodoll]

I know photos are better than a video so I'll try to get pics shortly, however this was shot today and I'd love your feedback!

The silkies are 5 weeks old and too young to tell, obviously.

The rest of the chicks are 4 weeks old tomorrow (Feb 23), they are all mutts with some level of EE genes in there.

I know that Tank, the fat one that still has a chipmunk head, is a boy - but the others are ???

Thanks for your guesses!

(I only want to know if you see LOTS of roos in there or what could be MOSTLY pullets, or half-half)

 

[<3ChickenForever]

You can tell a rooster and hen apart by looking and seeing if any of them are starting to have spurs... they'll be little pokes.. the hens won't get spurs till they're pullets.
and I THINK the silkies are girls.

 

[magicpigeon]

Silkes by 5 week should already show some indications of gender. I can sex mine with a 95% accuracy by 5 weeks, anyway

Look for the comb mainly and hens will have grown more tail and head feathers. The roosters will also make the purring noise associated with danger.
For the other chicks, look at the size of the comb, thickness and length of legs and how quickly they have feathered out. Good luck

 

[technodoll]

Since the non-silkie chicks are mutts they're all growing at different rates and are hard to compare, I don't know what breed genetics are throwing what in there... some have long legs, some short, some have long tails, some short, all exept one are pretty much feathered in, none of them have any pronounced combs yet, nothing pink, yet because of the EE genes I'm not surprised. So right now they're all still complete mysteries (except one).

I'll have to photograph them individually soon and then post the pics here for advice!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Starving those poor babies, you should be ashamed!

Silkies are NOT easy to tell unless you have pretty low-quality ones. Either way, I still can't tell on them much before 3 months old. It also looks like you have some EE in the mix, which are also hard to tell sexes on.

 

[technodoll]

Quote:
By the way they scream at me every time I enter the barn you'd think they ARE starving!

Um, they've trained me well...

I guess I'll have to wait a couple more weeks to try and guess who da boys are and who da girls are...