Hey I need help determining the sex of these RIR chicks!

[chickmagnet1218]

We are thinking that the first one shown will be a roo are there any other distinguishing factors between a roo and a hen on RIR?

 

[Merro]

Legs will be visibly thicker on roosters. Saddle feathers should also be coming in around now and they should be pointed and turning downwards.

 

[pfields]

Yes, I have 27 RIR. Two were packed as peanuts and both are roosters. One is huge even at 14 weeks. He's as tall as my GSL rooster. The other one is smaller and started crowing at 8-9 weeks. The larger RIR rooster hasn't crowed yet. I purchased 1 Orpington rooster. He's so pretty, smaller than the RIR, and he hasn't crowed yet but he does chase the pullets around.

 

[chickmagnet1218]

So you guys cant tell by the photos? I was hoping that we had a few, and some of the crowns guess, are more red than the others at 8 weeks.

 

[pfields]

Okay, here's a picture of my 14 week old RIR rooster, some of my RIR pullets and my Orpington rooster. Our yard is almost a lake due to all the rain we've been getting here on the coast of Texas. We're tired of rain!!!! Don't know how old your RIR's are but hope this helps.



Orpington rooster


RIR pullets


RIR rooster

 

[chickmagnet1218]

Thanks so much! I love your RIR roo, he is beautiful!

 

[pfields]

Thanks, he's the small one. I couldn't get a good picture of the big one. They're the same age but he's almost twice as big as the small one and doesn't crow yet.

 

[chickmagnet1218]

Mine are almost 9 weeks old and other than the color of their crowns being a darker red and a couple of them having black on their tail feathers I have no clue which are roos and which are hens...

 

[pfields]

You must have all pullets then because you should be able to tell the roosters from the pullets by now. It didn't take long for our two roosters to stand out with their larger red combs and thicker legs. Where did you get yours from? I got mine from Ideal.

 

[krista74]

Kind of hard to tell by the pictures as they don't all show the same angles, but if any have wattles coming in at 8 weeks old I would say cockerel for them.

I think that the first one in particular may well turn out to be male. His wattles are quite obvious. I know with my RIR x BO chicks that was the first clue to help me pick out the males. My pullets did not develop any wattle colour until they were about 14 weeks old.

I agree with the above posts - what you are looking for is something that defines one sex from the other. The black tail feathers are ok - a true RIR will be a dark mahogany colour tending to black at the tail. The shape of the tail feathers will be different though as they age. I remember that my roosters did not develop saddle or sickle feathers until they were about 15 weeks old, so things could still change drastically for you in the next couple of months!

I would keep an eye on comb and wattle growth. The cockerels should bound ahead in these areas well before the pullets.

- Krista