Hello from Hollister CA (Noob)

[Cyberous]

Hello friends of chickens!

What a crazy and fantastic website, who knew there was so much info on chickens and the people that love them.

First I want to say I've wanted to keep chickens all my adult life. My grand parents had chickens and going to visit them and seeing their chickens was one of my most fond memories.

Two weeks ago I built a coop under my deck and purchased 6 RIR chicks. Watching these chicks grow is unbelievable, one day fuzz the next day feathers!

I've been trying to spend as much time with them and have learned they all have quite the unique personalities.

I do have a question for you more experienced chickenolygists. Reading the sexing by feather method it would seem that I have 50/50 male/female mix?

As you can see 3 have really long feathers (females?), while 3 are quite short (males?)

Opinions?

Thanks

Don

 

[Dawn419]

Hello and Welcome to BYC!

I'm no help in sexing RIR chicks but those reddish combs do look like a dead give-away!

Jump in with both feet and make yourself at home here!

Dawn

 

[MamaJohnson]

I'm also new here, but am already so thankful for the amazing help this forum provides! The people here are amazing, and an invaluable resource!

My RIR chicks are 3 weeks old now. Our RIR Roo is always obvious in the flock - whenever I enter the brooder the hens cower and hide in the corner, but not him - he's always right up front, standing tall, confronting me, looking me right in the eye. His tail has developed slower (shorter, thinner) than the hens, and his comb is slightly more pronounced and slightly redder.
One tip I might give. I know he's still young, and things could change, but my Roo used to be very aggresive (even at just 7 days old), pecking and biting at my hands as I reached for him or any of the other chicks. So, I started picking him up as much as possible. He and I "talk", walk around, I give him very gentle attention, and I've seen a complete turn around in his behavior. I also feed him (and the other chicks) out of my hand every day (a little bit of the same starter in the feeder, but he doesn't seem to notice - it's still a "treat"!). Like I said, big difference in all of their behavior towards me, especially his. Here's hoping it stays that way!
Good luck to you with your new ones!


Quick additional note: I am definately NO expert on this matter, but if I could just offer a guess, I would guess that (since they look so much like mine), yes, you've got a 50/50 mix - 3 ladies, and 3 gents. Question: what will you do if this ends up being correct? Will you keep all 3 roos with your 3 hens?

 

[gimme sum eggs]

I'll 2nd mamajohnson's point about the tail feathers...I think.

I was just about to post a question about a suspected roo that had slower development of the tail feathers vs. the pullets we ordered. Our 9 pullets came with 9 extras I assumed to be all or nearly all roos. I gave up all the extras except one I had chosen to keep, hoping it was a roo. I noticed it/he had very little tail feather development at 17 days old while the girls had good growth in that department. It/he also has thicker legs than the girls. The odds are in my favor I think!
Sounds like mamajohnson supports my theory, and I made a good choice of the freebies to keep.

 

[Cyberous]

Thanks for the feedback.

I will probably give away the roo's on Craigslist, unless some one on here wants them (picked up of course.)

Yes there are two with shorter tail feathers and they are constantly belly bumping each other, not sure what thats all about?

They are quite friendly to me however, I don't want to be waken up each morning by Roos

Don

 

[ibpboo]

Howdy neighbor!
I'm not too good at sexing chicks. I have 6 RIR hens. Two are 6 years, two turned a year old March 20, and the other two will be a year in June. I also have an EE, a silkie, and a game hen.
The silkie is a hen my friend rescued from a dogs mouth and brought to me. The game hen just showed up one day and has been here for 1 1/2 years now.
Do you know if the 3 are roos or not yet?

 

[Cyberous]

Howdy!

I gave them to a co worker. They are in his greenhouse until they are big enough to go with his free range flock.

He will let me know if I was right in a few months.

I have since picked up two 3month old hens, and 2, 3 year old hens,.. I'm a very impatient person

Sounds like you have a nice flock!,.. do you know any place that has Cornish X locally? I'm thinking of getting two for 8 weeks

Don

 

[rooster-red]

 

[Tala]

You have pegged your RIR chickes same as I have. My roosters have practically no tails, while all my pullets have inch long feathers on their tails!

All of my combs are pretty similar, but comparing my RIR pullet's feathers to the 2 roos, it comes out looking almost exactly like yours do. One of them acted exactly like MamaJohnson described, but one is pretty quiet. I really like the outgoing personality, but for a first-timer I may end up keeping the quieter one.

Glad you found homes for yours where they would eventually be able to free range and live happily. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with my spare rooster. Maybe eat him, or see if my aunt wants him.

 

[Mahonri]

Those big legs are almost always a dead give away... roos.