Hens or Roo's.. How can I tell?

[rooster0209]

My chicks are 3wks old and beginning to feather out. Is there a way to tell which are hens and roos at this age?

Not that it really matters, at this time. Just curious

 

[lovemychicks9]

I guess the one way to tell is to keep an eye on the combs. The roo's will be bigger and more pink/ red and hens will be smaller and more yellow. My 8 week olds are still pretty small and more yellowish. Also as they grow the roo's will develop the wattles if the kinds you have will get them and they will be much larger then the hens. My 8 week old Buff girls are just now begining to develop them and I first thought they were picking at each other until I really looked and realized that it was wattlles. Hope that helps. If you are in question you might post pic's and let us look. Hope that helps. Trudy

 

[mommainpa]

Hi---I'm new to raising chicks, but I had wondered the same thing a few weeks ago and someone with experience posted that often, the roos will feather out more slowly.
That has definitely been true with our Australorps, especially with their tail feathers. At four weeks, the ladies' tail feathers are two to three times as long as the roos.
Shayne

 

[gritsar]

Give them till they're about four to five weeks old and you'll start to notice some differences. In alot of breeds, the roos do feather out slower, especially across their wing bows; what I call their shoulders. The cockerels combs will become larger and redder. They'll also have more wattle development than the pullets. As the tail feathers come in the cockerels tails will come to a definite point, while the pullets will remain a few fingers wide. They say that the legs of cockerels will be longer and thicker, but since I am raising a heavy breed, all of mine have pretty thick sturdy legs.