5 week old buffs

[Big Orp]

I have 27 5 week old Buffs and have some questions. Some have long tale feathers and some have short tale feathers. Are the males the ones with the long tale feathers? All of the pictures I've seen of the adults shows the males with longer tale feathers.
I just want to make sure I don't send any hens to the butcher.

If anyone has butchered buffs b4. How many weeks should I wait b4 sending them to the freezer?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It might be a little early to tell for sure but the boys will have longer curved tail feathers. Hackle, wing and tail feathers will be more pointed while the girls will have rounded feathers. Since they're all the same breed and age you will also notice thicker longer legs on males.
There will be no doubt about sex by the time they're big enough to eat.
Most DP breeds of that size will benefit from living between 14 and 20 weeks.

 

[Big Orp]

Thanks for the reply. This is my first time with non sex linked chickens.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Depends.

On many more traditional, American class fowl, it is the females the shoot out a longer tail while in the brooder. The cockerels will certainly get nice tails when they mature, but not at first.