Are any of these Hens?

[NatJ]

Updated pictures: 4/14/2023

So they are about 7 weeks old now?

They look enough alike that I think they may be all the same gender as each other, and they are not looking obviously male to me.

So either there are some males who develop a bit slowly, or they are just females like you ordered. I'm not positive yet, but I think there is a good chance that you will have some females like you wanted

 

[Leasmom1013]

So they are about 7 weeks old now?

They look enough alike that I think they may be all the same gender as each other, and they are not looking obviously male to me.

So either there are some males who develop a bit slowly, or they are just females like you ordered. I'm not positive yet, but I think there is a good chance that you will have some females like you wanted

Yes they will be 8 weeks old on Tuesday. They're some who are Roosters because they have done the chest bumping and they are trying to crow. But I don't know which are the females. They look male to me but this breed, Black Australorps has been so very difficult to sex for me. I've read that Black Australorps develop early but most examples of a 7 or 8 week old BA usually aren't as red combed as these are. I have been looking for the longest and have only gotten more confused. I think my next set will be sex linked for certain.

 

[NatJ]

Yes they will be 8 weeks old on Tuesday. They're some who are Roosters because they have done the chest bumping and they are trying to crow. But I don't know which are the females. They look male to me but this breed, Black Australorps has been so very difficult to sex for me. I've read that Black Australorps develop early but most examples of a 7 or 8 week old BA usually aren't as red combed as these are. I have been looking for the longest and have only gotten more confused. I think my next set will be sex linked for certain.

Females do the chest bumping too at that age, but crowing is definitely a sign of being male.

So I would say you probably do have some males. And given how much alike they look, they might all be males. So my guess that they might all be female is obviously wrong.

Do you have a way to identify individual chicks? If so, you could make a note each time one crows, and see if there are any that do not. (Crowing would mean male, not-crowing would not prove anything.)

Or maybe try picking the one with the smallest comb, and getting a DNA test on it? If the smallest comb is male then they all are, and you will not be wondering any more.

I bought All Hens from Hoovers Hatchery

If they turn out to be mostly or all males, then you might try getting a refund.

https://www.hoovershatchery.com/our-guarantee.html
"We guarantee all sexed birds to be 90% accurate as to sex. "

Since they guarantee 90% accuracy on sex, they should at least refund the purchase price of most of the males. If you do not have ANY correct chicks in the order, I don't know if you can convince the hatchery to refund the shipping as well. Hatcheries usually do not refund shipping cost, and I don't know when or if they make exceptions. (Shipping 100% wrong gender would not really be a sexing error, because it would mean someone grabbed all the chicks from the wrong bin.)

You should probably check that with the hatchery before you rehome or butcher the chicks, in case they require extra proof (like new photos, or photos after a certain age, or something of the sort.)

 

[Leasmom1013]

Females do the chest bumping too at that age, but crowing is definitely a sign of being male.

So I would say you probably do have some males. And given how much alike they look, they might all be males. So my guess that they might all be female is obviously wrong.

Do you have a way to identify individual chicks? If so, you could make a note each time one crows, and see if there are any that do not. (Crowing would mean male, not-crowing would not prove anything.)

Or maybe try picking the one with the smallest comb, and getting a DNA test on it? If the smallest comb is male then they all are, and you will not be wondering any more.



If they turn out to be mostly or all males, then you might try getting a refund.

https://www.hoovershatchery.com/our-guarantee.html
"We guarantee all sexed birds to be 90% accurate as to sex. "

Since they guarantee 90% accuracy on sex, they should at least refund the purchase price of most of the males. If you do not have ANY correct chicks in the order, I don't know if you can convince the hatchery to refund the shipping as well. Hatcheries usually do not refund shipping cost, and I don't know when or if they make exceptions. (Shipping 100% wrong gender would not really be a sexing error, because it would mean someone grabbed all the chicks from the wrong bin.)

You should probably check that with the hatchery before you rehome or butcher the chicks, in case they require extra proof (like new photos, or photos after a certain age, or something of the sort.)

Thank you. I appreciate it.

 

[Larafamilychickens]

if they are all males, I know one local feed store near me does chicken swap meets, and another sells pullets in May. I’d probably just buy pullets, they are a little older and you wouldn’t be guessing.

 

[Leasmom1013]

if they are all males, I know one local feed store near me does chicken swap meets, and another sells pullets in May. I’d probably just buy pullets, they are a little older and you wouldn’t be guessing.

Oh, I hope to find something like that here.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

@3KillerBs

 

[3KillerBs]

It's very hard to tell anything in that group photos.

I personally have better luck sexing my Blue Australorps at 4-5 weeks, then I find that they enter a confusing period from about 6-8 weeks, and then later than that it's clear again.

Can you get individual shots with a clear focus on the combs and wattles?

Red wattles are likely to be boys.

These is a 4-week Australorp boys from a recent hatch.

And a couple roughly 8-weekish boys from the previous hatch:

And the girls from that hatch:

 

[Leasmom1013]

It's very hard to tell anything in that group photos.

I personally have better luck sexing my Blue Australorps at 4-5 weeks, then I find that they enter a confusing period from about 6-8 weeks, and then later than that it's clear again.

Can you get individual shots with a clear focus on the combs and wattles?

Red wattles are likely to be boys.

These is a 4-week Australorp boys from a recent hatch.

And a couple roughly 8-weekish boys from the previous hatch:

And the girls from that hatch:

Yes I can. I have been introducing them to the outside while I work on their chicken run and then bring them back in at night. So, I can a little bit later on today.

 

[Leasmom1013]

Yes I can. I have been introducing them to the outside while I work on their chicken run and then bring them back in at night. So, I can a little bit later on today.

I can probably get face forward pictures in the morning but it was a struggle to get these. These docile breed BA's absolutely aren't and I had to wrap each one in a towel because they aren't very comfortable or friendly, which also makes me think they're boys. I also heard a crow earlier. It wasn't a complete crow but it wasn't a cackle. Let me know if you need more. I move them from inside to their original brooder to go outside. As soon as I cover the run, they will be moved permanently outside unless they are all roosters. Also, it's redder in person for all of them. I used flash to take the pictures so it may not appear as red but they all have reddish combs, some have darker orange combs but it just doesn't look like it with flash. You can see what their combs look like in the past photos.