Breed and Gender of chickens? New to BYC

[Ilovemyfamily]

I have 4 chickens. I thought we had 3 Hens and 1 Rooster but recently someone said they were all roosters. I do know that the 2 really pretty colored ones sometimes will crow, but I have been told a female will sometimes do that also. The huge white one with a little black on it has feathers all the way down its legs, so I was thinking maybe a Brahma? An the solid white one ( a rooster, i believe) I was thinking may be a Leghorn? Any help would be appreciated.. Thank You. I have pictures in gallery and on my profile, im not sure if they posted with this or not.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

The 2 pretty colored ones look like Easter Eggers, The white and black one is a Brahma, and not sure on the all white one, but it is not a Leghorn, leg color is wrong.

Now for the bad news, they are all cockerels.

 

[Ilovemyfamily]

Hate to sound dumb, but what is cockerels? Does that mean al males? Which we have 2 black hens who have laid that are supposed to be Top Knots.

 

[redsoxs]

I agree with Turtle Power - I've no clue on the white one either -but not a leghorn. And yes, they look like boys.

 

[Ilovemyfamily]

Well poo...lol , atleast we have 2 hens..i guess we could always breed them with the pretty colored roosters

 

[K Epp]

I agree with the above. I looked in a Cackle catalog and White Jersey Giants have black legs so maybe that's what he is. They are all very pretty. Any chance you can trade them for pullets. I had to do that with some I bought from someone locally.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Just so you know, you will want to get rid of most of the boys or get lots more hens. General ratio is 10 hens per rooster. Pullets is the proper term for girls not yet laying. Cockerels are boys less than a year old.

 

[donrae]

Yep, all boys. Adult female birds may occasionally crow if there's no male around, but young hens don't crow.
Four roosters to two hens is going to be a recipe for disaster if they're all together. The roos will fight and the hens will get gang-mated. The roos will probably be okay housed together withoug access to the hens.

 

[Ilovemyfamily]

Thank you all. The hens are in a seperate cage. We thought they all would have spurs or bigger cones. I have noticed they are trying to mate with the ducks that are housed with them..lol