Boy or girl?

[swiggity_swarren]

Hey y'all,
I have a few chickens who are eight weeks today. Barnyard mix. I'm trying to figure out boys/girls so that I can cull the roos for meat (sad, but city doesn't allow them).
My assumption is that my white painted chicken is a pullet and that the rest are roos. Getting pics of their combs were hard, so let me know if I need to get some clearer shots.

Bonus point if you tell me if my chickens are at the right age to cull or not.

Thank you for the help!

 

[urlocalcrazychickenlady]

For 8 weeks, those combs do look pretty dark, but I’ve had pullets mature quickly. I don’t know that much about sexing chickens tho, I’ve never had a young roo.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Hey y'all,
I have a few chickens who are eight weeks today. Barnyard mix. I'm trying to figure out boys/girls so that I can cull the roos for meat (sad, but city doesn't allow them).
My assumption is that my white painted chicken is a pullet and that the rest are roos. Getting pics of their combs were hard, so let me know if I need to get some clearer shots.

Bonus point if you tell me if my chickens are at the right age to cull or not.

Thank you for the help!

If you're only culling due to gender, I'd wait a little longer so you can be certain. I like to harvest around 10-12 weeks for tasty meat.

From your pics, I'm only confident that the black one is a cockerel. I agree that the splash is probably a pullet. For the other 2, maybe try to get some closer up pics or wait another week or 2.

I also feel sad about culling young cockerels, but I also think it's the most humane option. I've put it off before and caused unnecesary stress to my birds. It's better for all the birds to get it over with before the boys get too hormonal.

 

[swiggity_swarren]

Thank you both for your wisdom!


Fluster Cluck Acres, thank you for the culling information. I was wondering if I should keep them a bit longer before culling, and yoy answered my question! I attached another picture of the chickens because I think it gives a good side profile of the multicolored chicken. I think I see lil' wattles, but it might be me.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

I attached another picture of the chickens because I think it gives a good side profile of the multicolored chicken. I think I see lil' wattles, but it might be me.

I'm leaning pullet for the red one. The white one with the red shoulders is a tougher call.

 

[AinaWGSD]

I think the two on the left are boys. They both have more developed comb and wattles and the red on the wings is usually male specific coloration. The two on the right look like pullets with small pale combs and very little wattle development.

If no one's crowing yet, I would wait a little longer to be sure before culling. At 8 weeks there's not much meat on non-broiler type birds. I would try to cull by 16 weeks though. At 16 weeks they should still be tender enough for any cooking method you want to use. After that the meat has a much firmer texture and really needs a slower cooking method.

 

[Whittni]

Black is male and white with red on the wings is male.