9 week old chicks- are any cockerels? Or is it too soon to tell? :-)

[CyprusChicks]

Hello,

I have five chicks. I'm pretty sure they are not pure breed. They all hatched from green eggs, we got them from school (they were given to the school to hatch and we brought home 5 of them) they are going to join our red sex links Bill and Ben.

They are 9 weeks old - are they too young to tell- or do I have any cockerels?

This is El, Braveheart, Speckle, Tim and Kitty:

 

[keesmom]

They all look like cockerels.

 

[CyprusChicks]

Thank you for your quick response.

Oh no :-( we can't keep any roosters because of the neighbours.

Are you sure? 13 of the 19 eggs hatched and we got the smallest 5 chicks. I was sure we'd get at least one girl. It's just my luck to pick all the cockerels :-(

What are the signs that they are boys? I'm quite new to keeping chickens so unless it crows I wouldn't know if it's a cockerel and there too young for that. How old do they normally crow?

 

[donrae]

I'm sorry, but I'm also seeing boys. The only one I'd hold out hope for is the second from last. If you could get a pic of it standing, a profile shot, that would help.

At this age, it's the combs that give it away. Females of this age won't have hardly any color to their combs, and they'll have hardly any comb to speak of. You have different types of combs on some of your birds, so they're not all as large as the straight combs, but the plumpness and red color tell the tale.

 

[CyprusChicks]

Oh dear :-(

I remember reading somewhere that combs are redder in hot weather! We live in cyprus - it's really hot here - could that be why they are redder? Or am I just clutching at straws! I suppose that doesn't explain the size though:-(

Here are some kind of profiles. They move so quickly it's hard to get a decent photo.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Sorry, but I think that they are all roosters.

 

[boyswillbeboys]

I might hold out hope on the second and second last being girls, but the other three scream boys even to my inexperienced eye

 

[donrae]

Still undecided on the gold laced, but the others are definite boys, sorry.

 

[CyprusChicks]

Oh well, I better start looking for new homes for them :-( I think I'll wait a few more weeks until they crow for sure, but at least I can start preparing my kids for the fact that we have to give them up.

Hopefully Tim (the black and gold one), at least, will turn out to be a keeper. And she was the biggest of this group when she hatched, that's why we thought she was a he, hence the name!

Thank you all for your help and I keep my fingers crossed for Tom being a she

 

[BantamLover21]

Sorry, but I think that they are all roosters.

I agree.