A kind of embarrassing question regarding sexing chicks...

[moenmitz]

I feel dumb asking this...but can females have combs too? I have 54 3.5 week old chicks, and we are trying to figure out what is what. Some have big combs, some no combs, some litte bitty combs- and of course I have all different breeds...I am thiking maybe the ones wiht small combs are also hens...but can someone please tell me if this is the case? Is there any OTHER way I can tell the sex since I dont have a clue how to vent sex?

 

[chickenboy]

females do have combs

 

[KellyGwen]

Girls have combs too

The boys combs normally get bigger and definitely get redder than the girls do.

With some breeds (like EE's) it takes a longer time to tell the difference. With my leghorns you could tell the boys at 2 weeks! Their combs were HUGE compared to the girls!! Good luck!

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Yes females have combs and wattles. Depending on the breed you can sex them by color, by their comb size, and some are a waiting game.

 

[Chirpy]

There are different types of combs also - so just because one chicken has a small comb or one has a really large comb - that doesn't tell the sex of the chicken.

Some breeds can be feather sexed when they are babies (that's one way that hatcheries know which are pullets or roos), some can be sexed by color, some can be vent sexed (this takes very special people with lots and lots of training who get paid BIG bucks by the hatcheries) and some (like Silkies) are often impossible to sex until they either lay an egg or crow.

If you have two chicks of the same breed that are the same age you will usually be able to figure out if one is a roo around five to eight weeks old as his comb and wattle will grow larger and be a much brighter red than the pullets.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Here's a website that says which breeds have what type of combs:
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/dual.html

And images of different kinds of combs:
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/eggs/res11-combs.html

 

[moenmitz]

Thank you thank you! That website should be very helpful as well- going to check it out now!