Ok I started thread this morning asking if hens can crow. Unbelievably I was told they can. I have to say I was very surprised. I was told they are generally older, and evidently sent off to the meat packers. which did seem a little harsh. Just in case you missed my thread from this morning. We bought 8 chicks at the same time and of the same age. They're 13 weeks this Wed. We were told all but silkies were hens. they said couldn't tell on silkies. we have 2 rir, 2 silkies, and 4 unknowns. 1 of the rir started getting wattles way before any of the others. OK not so bad 1 roo. Then we noticed 1 silkie had a comb the other didn't. the one with the comb got his wattles before the other silkie. the 4 unknowns are just starting to get wattles. well the 1 rir w/ wattles and silkie with comb have been crowing for several weeks now (or at least practing). Well I saw the other rir crow yesterday morning, and then the silkie with no comb crowed this morning. I could have sworn that they were hens. I took pictures of them so you can see the difference in the size of wattles, and lack of comb on silkie. I have put 4 pics the first is the unkown hens just so you can compare the combs and wattles. Pic 2 is the crowing rir hen? Pic 3 the rir rooster. pic 4 is both silkies. I hope someone out knows the difference between boy and girl. I have to say I'm a little worried and a whole lot confused. I don't think 4 girls would stand a chance against boys. I've called all the local vets noone neuters roos around here. I live in melbourne fl. Also it is very hot here. I know its a little early for eggs, but will the boys try to mate the hens in this heat? I'm worried about them stressing them, and if they wait for it to cool off some I'll have more time to figure out what we're going to do. if we indeed have 4 roosters.
thanks for your help
dd
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