Do only Roosters have spurs?

[DolanFamRV]

HI,

we are new to this and are trying to sex our chicks. We have a variety of types and received some as straight run, and are wondering how to sex them.

We thought that only roosters have a spur, is this true or do hens have them as well?

Thank you

 

[gritsar]

Alot of chicks have spur bumps, but mainly roosters develop the full blown spurs. I've read and seen of some older hens developing them.
Spurs or the lack thereof is not an accurate way to determine sex.

 

[DolanFamRV]

Cool, thanks for the info,

Does any one know how we can determine the sex? I can take a leap and assume it may vary by breed.

 

[ChickieNikki]

Quote:
Thanks for that info--wondering about that!

 

[Bluebyrd]

At what age can you see the spurs start developing?

 

[DolanFamRV]

We are starting to see the spurs on our chicks and they are around 5-weeks

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Unless it is a breed that is bred to be wing or color sexed at a day old, you pretty much have to wait for the secondary sex characteristics to start showing up; at 4 to 6 weeks.

As to when the spurs start developing, that can depend somewhat on the breed and the individual bird.
I had two roosters, same breed. One had inch long spurs at 9 months. The other roo (the one I still have) is almost 14 months old and his are barely at 1/2".