how badly woudl I tick off my chicken if...

[kristip]

Here is the back story... 2 weeks ago we picked up 4 chickens that were between 4-9 months of age from a local farm. We finsihed our coop and wanted to start getting fresh eggs right away from 4 hens. Well we know one is too young of a pullet, 3 are mature, but of those three, one we are not sure on sex. We are getting 2 eggs a day but not sure which ones are laying as we have not caught them in the act.

Would it be a bad idea to isolate the one we think could be a roo in an extra large dog kennel for a day to see if we still get 2 eggs... the lady at the farm said she would take it back if it was a roo. Would removing one bird ( that is kinda anti-social) upset the others that they would not lay?

thanks

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Put some food coloring about the vent areas, each gets their own color and see what colors turn up a streaks on the eggs. I would not mess with separating a flock unless there was a need as it can dissrupt pecking order, the egg laying and cause re-intergration problems.

If you pull a laying hen out she might just be POed enough not to lay an egg anyway.

 

[Mervin]

Isn't it kind of funny that squirting food coloring in her bum is the less aggravating option?

 

[Nostalchic]

At 4-9 months, there should be some fairly obvious signs to tell you whether one is a rooster or not, beyond whether s/he is laying an egg a day (many she's won't necessarily at that age, either). It may not be crowing, but should have some roo characteristics, long cape, hackle, and saddle feathers, more upright tail, bigger comb and wattles... The feathers are the things that I look for, seem to be the earliest indicators other than size. I agree that you may disrupt things if you try to separate someone, and they are just getting adjusted to their new home. Can't you just give it a little time?

 

[ranchhand]

Post a pic or series of pics, we'll tell you who the roo is if there is one. MUCH easier than food coloring!

 

[Judy]

Or look through the "What breed or gender is this?" section for a few minutes and notice things like the hackle (bottom of neck, sort of like shoulders) and saddle (just above the tail on the back) feathers, and you will get an eye for the difference pretty quickly.

 

[kristip]

I actually have posted on the what breed or gender is this bird... it has been a mixed reaction. It is a big bird and certainly has sturdy legs, but the feathers are not looking too indicating to me yet.
The "urgency" is that the lady said she would take the bird back and give me a known female for egg purposes. We also want another layer for said reasons. The hard part is my son is already getting attached to "pet" chicken and if this happens to be a girl I dont want it to go. Want to get them established before snow flies around here too.

Here I will post another pic of Hulk!

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

Looks like a girl to me.

I would not isolate. When the chicken gets back into the flock it has to reestablish pecking order.

I am getting between1-3 eggs a day from 3 girls. I am still trying to figure out which one is giving me the smaller eggs and laying every other day to every 3rd day... if I really get hyper about it I will do the food coloring trick. But for now I think that is a decent amount of eggs going into the colder months with less light.

 

[trunkman]

looks like a hen to me too...

 

[Sphinx]

I'm no expert, but that looks like a hen to me.

I wouldn't separate them either.