5 Weeks, How can I tell

John01

In the Brooder
11 Years
Jan 27, 2008
25
0
32
At 5 weeks old are there any sure fire signs of Rooster vs. Pullet?

John
 
In my 8 week olds I found the feather development was slower in the roos. The combs grew much faster on the roos and the wattles grew also. My roosters seem to have more of an attitude than the hens and the hens where more trusting. I did get some crowing at 3 weeks but could never catch them at it. Pecking on the other birds seemed to be the best clue. I had to put 4 roos out of 15 chicks down for their aggressiveness then everything calmed down and the flock is getting along fine now. I am now left with 8 hens and one roo. I think the only thing I could do was watch and learn. This was my first attempt in raising chickens. Post some pics and the fine folks here will let you know. John
 
Last edited:
the roos start trying to crow at 3wks of age an older.an some roos may wait longer to start trying to crow.but when you hear crowing you have a roo.
 
I posted pics on this site and got a mixed response. I thought I had a roo because of the comb and wattle being more prevalent than the others, but haven't heard one bit of crowing. They are 8 weeks old. Maybe it's just a fast maturing hen????
 
My buff orp hens combs are no more than 1/4" high and no wattles. The roo on the other hand the comb is 3/4" and the wattles are 1/2" long and bright red. He crows like crazy. John
 
Just an up date. After I lost a few chicks due to excess roos I bought 4 white leghorn females from Meyer Hatchery. They are now 3 weeks old. While eating supper tonight a crow came out of the brooder. I have noticed one of them was like I posted before slow in feather development and has a larger comb. Guess I have a roo in the bunch. Just another indication of the experience I had in the beginning. John
 
Last edited:
Some roosters crow early, some wait till 4-5... even 6-7 months old to try to crow. Combs at under two months turning red is a sign of a roo. Girl combs should't redden till about 4 months old.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom