Here is another one... Please help!

[Shane Q]

The two chickens in this picture are the same age, almost 8 weeks... I got 8 chickens and 6 of them have the red beard/top and its making me think that 6 of them are roosters because some have no beard or top at all.... Please help confirm that they are

 

[Top Rooster]

It looks like you got a bad deal whoever gave you them ripped you off because he looks like a rooster to me

 

[Top Rooster]

Well now that I see your other thread I'm torn on weather their hens or Roos because they seem to have a hen tail while a large comb or as you call beard

 

[Feathers4Fun2]

Great pictures! I have a theory, If a chick has prominent tail feathers it'll be a pullet. If a chick has a rounded butt or very short tail feathers it'll be a cockerel. Is this true or not I can not say for sure, however I'm testing my theory. Actually it's not my theory, I read that fact somewhere, I wish I could remember where so I can give credit where credit is due. At any rate I have 65 eggs that are due to hatch soon. 36 eggs due June 2, 2017 and 29 eggs due June 8. I'm going to tag these birds based on their tail feather development or lack their of. Based on the yet untested theory it appears the chicken in the foreground is a pullet and the background chicken is a cockerel.

 

[Shane Q]

It looks like you got a bad deal whoever gave you them ripped you off because he looks like a rooster to me

Long story but they were unsexed from tractor supply...but 6/8 of them look like that!

 

[Shane Q]

Great pictures! I have a theory, If a chick has prominent tail feathers it'll be a pullet. If a chick has a rounded butt or very short tail feathers it'll be a cockerel. Is this true or not I can not say for sure, however I'm testing my theory. Actually it's not my theory, I read that fact somewhere, I wish I could remember where so I can give credit where credit is due. At any rate I have 65 eggs that are due to hatch soon. 36 eggs due June 2, 2017 and 29 eggs due June 8. I'm going to tag these birds based on their tail feather development or lack their of. Based on the yet untested theory it appears the chicken in the foreground is a pullet and the background chicken is a cockerel.

Thanks, and I would've guessed the opposite! When can I know for sure? All of them are pretty quiet... don't roosters eventually make a lot of noise in the morning? And do I have to wait until they start laying eggs to tell 100%?

 

[Fallenone05]

Thanks, and I would've guessed the opposite! When can I know for sure? All of them are pretty quiet... don't roosters eventually make a lot of noise in the morning? And do I have to wait until they start laying eggs to tell 100%?

Your best bet is to see who's laying eggs and who isn't, since some hens crow and others won't. These look like Buff Orpingtons though, and Orpington hens can have large combs (the top on their heads) and wattles (the ones under their beaks). Roosters also don't have the long sickle feathers, but their saddle feathers are longer than hen's are.

Roosters also make noise all day and night. I had a dummy that crowed consistently throughout the day and at 3 or 4AM, well before the sun came out.

 

[Shane Q]

Your best bet is to see who's laying eggs and who isn't, since some hens crow and others won't. These look like Buff Orpingtons though, and Orpington hens can have large combs (the top on their heads) and wattles (the ones under their beaks). Roosters also don't have the long sickle feathers, but their saddle feathers are longer than hen's are.

Roosters also make noise all day and night. I had a dummy that crowed consistently throughout the day and at 3 or 4AM, well before the sun came out.

Thanks, sorry i'm new but they all sleep in the same coop... How can I tell which ones are laying eggs and which ones aren't? If they do it when I'm not around?

 

[Fallenone05]

Thanks, sorry i'm new but they all sleep in the same coop... How can I tell which ones are laying eggs and which ones aren't? If they do it when I'm not around?

We all started as newbies. Nothing to apologize for! We learn new things every day with our feathered dinosaurs, or at least I do.

I'm going to guess that the one in front is a rooster and the one behind is a pullet. For them all being the same age (potentially?) the one in front has a large comb and wattle set compared. I could be wrong, though, and it's just a hen who's taking off faster than the others.

However, here's some information for you.

It'll be hard to tell, but here's a few things you can do -

If you have any free time at home, sit with your chickens and watch them. If your chickens bump breasts with one another a lot, they're fighting for dominance and can be a rooster fighting another, or a hen trying to knock the rooster down a peg. I had a bantam hen take on a full size rooster, and she held her ground with him really easily.

When you're home, though, you can always keep an eye on who does the submissive squat in the flock, especially if they react to your hands like in this video

The submissive squat is a good sign a hen is getting close to laying, and roosters will take advantage to breed the girls when they see it. If the chicken with the larger combs starts treading on any of the chickens, regardless of if they're doing the squat, they're most certainly a rooster. Boys almost always seem to reach sexual maturity faster than hens, and roosters can be aggressive about it.

 

[Feathers4Fun2]

Thanks, and I would've guessed the opposite! When can I know for sure? All of them are pretty quiet... don't roosters eventually make a lot of noise in the morning? And do I have to wait until they start laying eggs to tell 100%?

You can be 99.9% sure whether it's a pullet or cockerel well before the 20 week period. From personal experience I was 100% positive I had 5 pullets and 2 cockerels at 14 weeks. That is six weeks before they began laying. Roosters are noisier than hens for sure. Another tell tale sign is that cockerels will start growing spurs.