Are my chicks boys or girls? And what breeds are they?

[Sparkypatriot15]

Hey I have 2 little 4 week old chickens and I was wondering how to tell if they are boys or girls and what breeds they are. Both of them are jet black mostly, but one has a bunch of white on its face and a little bit of frilly pinkish skin coming out from its beak (I guess this is the comb?) and some feathers on the front of its legs. The other is almost totally black except it has a small bit of golden brown feathers on its neck and the comb is pretty just flat. No frills. And no feathers on its legs. The only breeds they could be are French copper maran, ameraucana, or te mix between both (olive eggers). And what are their genders? I tried the tail trick but I can't see much difference in their tails. The mostly black with gold one is smaller than the other. It hatched out of a white egg and the other hatched out of a pinkish egg. I also have 2 ducks- one is a boy and the other is just 1 week old so I cant tell. If one of my chickens were a roo, would it count the male duck as competition? And is there any way to stop a rooster from crowing? Cause I can't keep the rooster if it crows and I have grown quite attached to my birds. And I don't want to separate them cause they are a little flock and have been together since the beginning of their lives. Please help answer all of my questions! Sorry I have so many!

 

[fried green eggs]

Congrats on the babies. You did a good job detailing what they look like but, pictures would really help. There is a surgery that can be done to stop roosters from crowing called - caponizing (sp?) I saw a thread on the site. The surgery looked intimidating to me to sterilize a rooster.

 

[Edwards24]

Hey I have 2 little 4 week old chickens and I was wondering how to tell if they are boys or girls and what breeds they are. Both of them are jet black mostly, but one has a bunch of white on its face and a little bit of frilly pinkish skin coming out from its beak (I guess this is the comb?) and some feathers on the front of its legs. The other is almost totally black except it has a small bit of golden brown feathers on its neck and the comb is pretty just flat. No frills. And no feathers on its legs. The only breeds they could be are French copper maran, ameraucana, or te mix between both (olive eggers). And what are their genders? I tried the tail trick but I can't see much difference in their tails. The mostly black with gold one is smaller than the other. It hatched out of a white egg and the other hatched out of a pinkish egg. I also have 2 ducks- one is a boy and the other is just 1 week old so I cant tell. If one of my chickens were a roo, would it count the male duck as competition? And is there any way to stop a rooster from crowing? Cause I can't keep the rooster if it crows and I have grown quite attached to my birds. And I don't want to separate them cause they are a little flock and have been together since the beginning of their lives. Please help answer all of my questions! Sorry I have so many!

as far as what breeds it would be helpful if you could get pics up. To be able to tell if any are roos you may have to wait till they get a little older. Usually a roos comb will develop faster then the others but not always. As far as the tails you will be able to tell in time as they start to get their actual feathers in more. When my chicks were about 6 weeks old you could kind of tell the way he struted around compared to the rest. I also read in a book about something they call the "hat test'. Its were you put them on the floor or ground and take a hat and drop it by them on the ground and the roo will push his chest out and raise his head where as the hens will kind of squat down or run. As for the competition with your duck that all depends on how dominant he wants to be and how much interaction they get with the duck. Other than the surgery i know of no ways to keep a roo from crowing.

 

[Sparkypatriot15]

Thanks.... I don't think that I'll have much competition between a too and the duck cause they just keep their space and let the duck be dominant. And I'm really torn today cause my sweet baby duckling was just killed by dogs today and one of the chicks was injured

 

[Edwards24]

Well im sorry to hear that never good when some chicks get hurt

 

[Sparkypatriot15]

Thanks. The duckling sweet little face keeps popping up in my head. I loved that little fella. I think the chick will live but I'm really crushed

 

[Sparkypatriot15]

Ok. I can't post pics still but the chicks have grown more and I might be able to describe enough to tell. Alright- I'm almost certain that one is a roo cause he's got a greenish sheen on his black feathers and a larger comb and seems to be developing wattles- that is the big one. The others comb hasn't grown at all since my first post. I'm pretty sure this one (aka the smaller one) is a hen. But I did see the 2 sizing each other up today as if they were about to go full pecking throttle, but they didn't. But just turned away and continued being chickens. And are chickens supposed to be... Uh... Loving? Cause they get all excited when I come into the coop and enjoy being pet. An held. Even the mallard duck, which I thought were supposed to be SCARED of humans. And my mallard is getting his flight feathers and his wings will be big enough to fly soon- will he fly away when he has the chance?