How did you find out your chicken was a rooster?

[OmnipotentOrpington]

This is just a poll, but if it's in the wrong place, please do move it! I was wondering how everybody found out that their chicken was a rooster! I think I've covered everything, but if I've forgotten something, feel free to suggest it in the comments!

 

[Allthefloofs]

Our little guy had a big comb at 3 weeks that kept growing, he also started with pink wattles at 4 weeks. It was pretty obvious. He started crowing at 8 weeks at which point I was glad I gave him a boy name in the beginning. Wyatt Chirp stayed Wyatt Chirp .

 

[nuthatched]

Chickens do not change sexes, they can change feather type due to hormone Inbalance but the plumbing is the same.

 

[Willow2253]

Our first we didn’t realize was a boy until he started crowing. After that I’ve been able to tell pretty accurately by comb and waddles, except one that tricked me recently because he didn’t have much of either until well after hackle feathers came in.

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't have a rooster in the current flock, but with the in-town flock:

#1-5, The Red Boys

I assumed that my packing peanuts would be male and once they got old enough to be sexable I put photos on the forums here to confirm. Yep. They were.

#6, Marion (formerly Rosemary)

It was the hackles and saddles that made me suspicious that my only Light Brahma in that flock was a boy. I remember handling him and looking at his hackles across my fingers to see the true shape of the feathers, not just the shape of the color pattern.

But I was still able to hope that he was a hen up until a week after The Red Boys went to freezer camp.

Then he started crowing.

We let him stay because he was beautiful, docile, and had a lovely, deep-toned voice.

 

[FuzzyCritters]

Would autosexing count as 'sexed that way' or 'feather patterning'? I have a couple of Cream Legbar roos (which are autosexing).

For my other roos, I knew when they started getting big combs. For my Dark Brahma bantams, when they started getting a male pattern instead of female lacing. I purchased one Barred Cochin roo as an adult.

 

[3KillerBs]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I read that if one of the ovaries is damaged, then it releases a burst of testosterone. This causes the hen to stop laying and start crowing. The 'rooster' would be sterile though. Again, I'm not sure if this is the cause, but please do tell me if this is incorrect!

Not necessarily a "burst of testosterone" but a hormonal imbalance.

It's not sex-changing though.

More like what's going on with those of us human ladies who develop PCOS and end up having to shave.

 

[OmnipotentOrpington]

Not necessarily a "burst of testosterone" but a hormonal imbalance.

It's not sex-changing though.

More like what's going on with those of us human ladies who develop PCOS and end up having to shave.

Hmm. Do they keep laying, or do they act like a rooster?

 

[Artichoke Lover]

4 of mine came sexed. The last one was a surprise but it was obvious pretty early since he’s a BR. And my roosters were actually much more more skittish than the hens from when I got them at 3 days old.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Well, I don’t have any boys, but experienced sexers (me, kinda) are able to spot them with many things. Comb, attitude, pattern, feathers.