help me with my chick!! please! gender and breed.

[Wol1]

So, maybe it's on one of these pages somewhere, but WHY did you get them if you were just going to keep them for a little while? What did you plan to do with them?

 

[lana10123]

So, maybe it's on one of these pages somewhere, but WHY did you get them if you were just going to keep them for a little while?  What did you plan to do with them? 

yup actually it is....

 

[Wol1]

Our first batch of chicks all turned out to be females and their combs at that age looked like yours. We had one that started red way before the others, so we were sure it was a roo. Turned out to be the best mama hen ever. She raised this years batch of chicks. This year we ended up with a roo, possibly two. Their combs were large and BRIGHT red by 5-6 weeks. They were also twice the size of the others by week 5 or 6. Huge. At 9 weeks they are as big as most of my Ameracauna hens from last year. The first started crowing Friday at 9 weeks. I was cleaning the waterers and heard a strangled rurgrglarhargl!! right behind me

 

[matt81c]

I got some barred rocks last year that had bigger combs redder then the others it was split 2/2 all hens and actually the feathers and shape on there tail let's me know the we're hens as at that time I had one male developing longer feathers.The redder comb ones ended up being bigger and broader and better layers of larger to jumbo eggs.

 

[matt81c]

Eventually I want to breed those hens I've gotten with my deleware roo and hope I get faster developing offspring that are bigger and broader. Meat and eggs.i usually get 3 or 4 of certain types then sell of the smaller hens.Hopefully this will get me what I want next year.

 

[lana10123]

Im going to keep the roo looking ones until I am absolutely sure. Like a crow.lol
I am tempted to get some more chicks. Maybe ill look into pullets at the point of laying. That way I dont have to wait longer for eggs.

 

[missnu01]

Always a good plan, although buying already grown chickens you can run into a lot of issues with people being shady and selling sick birds, or saying a bird is younger than it actually is. So beware of that as well. I quit buying adult chickens after my first set. They all had mites and one was too old to lay, the rooster was sterile and all in all I got totally ripped off. And I hear too often I brought home a chicken and now all my other chickens are sick. Because some flocks have a virus or something that doesn't bother them at all, but it might make your flock sick. I like knowing that all my birds were raised here and whatever diseases they may have are of no issue to them.
As in no symptoms from any birds, but most birds are carriers of something or other. So what doesn't make so and so's birds sick, might make your birds sick ya know?

 

[lana10123]

Hum..... I guess my best bet is to wait.

 

[winteree]

Im going to keep the roo looking ones until I am absolutely sure. Like a crow.lol
I am tempted to get some more chicks. Maybe ill look into pullets at the point of laying. That way I dont have to wait longer for eggs.

it is up to you just make sure the flock is NPIP certified, avian flu clean and before you bring the birds home check them for mites and their droppings if possible for worms

 

[lana10123]