How can they tell? (Just curious)

[MochaDuck]

I've heard you can't sex chickens until they're six weeks old, but stores advertise them as sexed. How do they know at that age?
Just curious.
Thanks.

 

[BYCforlife]

Some experts can vent sex them, I believe the roosters have a little bump on their rear end. Or maybe the hens. I don't trust myself enough for fear of culling hens, so I just wait until I can see they're roosters by their combs.

 

[Fishkeeper]

They can vent sex them. In any chick other than an autosexing breed or a sex-link cross, it's not possible to tell for sure right out of the egg. I think the best success rate is about 90%? So if you buy, say, half a dozen "female" day-old chicks, you'll most likely get mostly or entirely females, but could also get males. It's possible for you to get super unlucky and get something like 3 males. Vent sexing is "probably", not "absolutely".

 

[americanchicks]

They squeeze the poop out of day old chicks then look at the cloaca. Males have a little pimple type bump. Hatcheries do it very quick so it only last a moment for the chick. However, vent sexing can be dangerous if you dont know what you are doing. You can hurt the chick.