how old

[tristancolli]

how old are chicks before u can feel their spur bumps?????

 

[gritsar]

A couple weeks old, depending on the breed. Why do you ask, I'm curious? Spur bumps do not indicate a roo, if that's what you're thinking.

 

[AKsmama]

Kat's right. I got all excited a couple of weeks ago when I noticed our for-sure cockerels were getting spur bumps. I thought, "Yay, now I can see who else is a cockerel!" Nope. ALL of them have the bumps.

After I discovered that I remembered reading about it in one of my books.

 

[tristancolli]

well that was my plan but i guess not anymore i have month old chicks unknow breed got a mix batch of eggs camera is broke i figured that was how i was going to tell who was who

 

[gritsar]

This works with the majority of breeds:

According to UC Davis Veterinary Care Program.
2. Physical Characteristics (4-6 weeks of age)
a. Comb – The cockerels comb is medium size and pinkish, the pullets is small and yellowish.
b. Legs – The cockerel’s legs are sturdy and long, the pullets are finer and shorter.
c. Tail – The cockerel’s tail is stumpy and curved, the pullets is longer and straight.
d. Back – The cockerel has a thin line of stub feathers down the center of his back, the pullet has more advanced feathering along the center of her back.
e. Side of neck, flank and crop – The feathering in the cockerel in these areas is poorly advanced, the pullets feathering in these areas is well advanced.
f. Wing bows – In the cockerel the wing bows are bare, in pullets the wing bows are covered with small feathers.

It helps if you have more than one of the same breed to compare, then the differences really pop out.