First of all, relax. They look like they are doing fine. They look alert and active. If they fluff up and have no energy, just spend all day hunched in one spot, you can be concerned, but yours are not doing that. And don't confuse them resting or being asleep on their feet with being sick.
Where did you read that it is a boy or dying? I'd really like to know.
Are there any dead giveaways as to rooster or hen? Once they mature, yes. As chicks, not really. There are some strong hints, but it is pretty hard on a lot to be sure, especially if you have mixed breeds. It looks like yours are all the same breed or cross, so that helps. Do you know what breed they are supposed to be? If yours are a red sex link, they are all pullets, but I'm not sure they are red sex links.
Other than laying eggs, some of the dead giveaways are that a rooster will be much larger than the hens when they mature. That size difference is not always apparent until they are older. The rooster will have pointy feathers on the saddle and hackles. That's at the small of the back and on the neck. Depending on breed, the color pattern can be different. The tail feathers of most breeds are different between male and female. At maturity, a rooster's wattles are usually much more pronounced. In general, the rooster is much more striking than the hen. That allows the rooster to attract the hens, he is more visible to predators, and it allows the hen to be better camouflaged when she is on the nest.
Some of the clues, but not definite identification. Young roosters often have heavier legs than young pullets. I'm suspicious of the one on your left, their right in your first photo because of that. Comb and wattle development is a pretty good hint, but I have seen some pullets with early combs and wattles. A rooster's comb and wattles will often turn red earlier than a pullet's. Depending in breed, roosters often have a more upright posture than pullets. On some breeds, you can see the pointy hackle and saddle feathers earlier than on others. If you can see a clear difference, that is pretty much a giveaway. Spurs? Not really a lot of help. They don't really come in until you can tell by other things and I have had hens with small spurs. Crowing? A decent clue but not a dead giveaway. In a flock with no roosters, a hen will sometimes take that position and act in many ways like a rooster, including trying to crow. But in a mixed flock of males and females, it is a pretty good giveaway, but not necessarily in an all-female flock.
Behavior, such as fighting or facing off? Not really a strong clue. At a young age, that could be either sex establishing the pecking order. Very often, immature roosters can be intimidated and beaten up by females. Even in an adult flock, roosters can rank pretty low in the pecking order, especially if they are not the dominant rooster in the flock. I do think the pullets are more likely to do that running across the brooder at top speed with wings flapping thing than the roosters, but that is a mild clue, not a definite.
I personally do not put much faith in how fast they feather out. I'm not real strong on this, but there is a specific gene that controls how fast they feather out. I think it is the same gene that is sex linked so if the parents are pure a certain way, this can be used at hatch to determine sex, and I think it is why the barring on a Barred Rock should be much more crisp than the barring on a Dominique, but I am not 100% sure on that. Some people are 100% absolutely without a doubt convinced this works, but I think unless you know the mother has the slow feathering gene and the father is pure for the fast feathering gene, I'm not convinced it works.
Im sure I am forgetting some clues or even dead giveaways. It might help if we knew the breed these are supposed to be.
Hope this helps a bit. But most of all, relax. They look like they are doin
Where did you read that it is a boy or dying? I'd really like to know.
Are there any dead giveaways as to rooster or hen? Once they mature, yes. As chicks, not really. There are some strong hints, but it is pretty hard on a lot to be sure, especially if you have mixed breeds. It looks like yours are all the same breed or cross, so that helps. Do you know what breed they are supposed to be? If yours are a red sex link, they are all pullets, but I'm not sure they are red sex links.
Other than laying eggs, some of the dead giveaways are that a rooster will be much larger than the hens when they mature. That size difference is not always apparent until they are older. The rooster will have pointy feathers on the saddle and hackles. That's at the small of the back and on the neck. Depending on breed, the color pattern can be different. The tail feathers of most breeds are different between male and female. At maturity, a rooster's wattles are usually much more pronounced. In general, the rooster is much more striking than the hen. That allows the rooster to attract the hens, he is more visible to predators, and it allows the hen to be better camouflaged when she is on the nest.
Some of the clues, but not definite identification. Young roosters often have heavier legs than young pullets. I'm suspicious of the one on your left, their right in your first photo because of that. Comb and wattle development is a pretty good hint, but I have seen some pullets with early combs and wattles. A rooster's comb and wattles will often turn red earlier than a pullet's. Depending in breed, roosters often have a more upright posture than pullets. On some breeds, you can see the pointy hackle and saddle feathers earlier than on others. If you can see a clear difference, that is pretty much a giveaway. Spurs? Not really a lot of help. They don't really come in until you can tell by other things and I have had hens with small spurs. Crowing? A decent clue but not a dead giveaway. In a flock with no roosters, a hen will sometimes take that position and act in many ways like a rooster, including trying to crow. But in a mixed flock of males and females, it is a pretty good giveaway, but not necessarily in an all-female flock.
Behavior, such as fighting or facing off? Not really a strong clue. At a young age, that could be either sex establishing the pecking order. Very often, immature roosters can be intimidated and beaten up by females. Even in an adult flock, roosters can rank pretty low in the pecking order, especially if they are not the dominant rooster in the flock. I do think the pullets are more likely to do that running across the brooder at top speed with wings flapping thing than the roosters, but that is a mild clue, not a definite.
I personally do not put much faith in how fast they feather out. I'm not real strong on this, but there is a specific gene that controls how fast they feather out. I think it is the same gene that is sex linked so if the parents are pure a certain way, this can be used at hatch to determine sex, and I think it is why the barring on a Barred Rock should be much more crisp than the barring on a Dominique, but I am not 100% sure on that. Some people are 100% absolutely without a doubt convinced this works, but I think unless you know the mother has the slow feathering gene and the father is pure for the fast feathering gene, I'm not convinced it works.
Im sure I am forgetting some clues or even dead giveaways. It might help if we knew the breed these are supposed to be.
Hope this helps a bit. But most of all, relax. They look like they are doin
