How soon can I tell if our babies are pullets or cockerels?

[SDBURCH200]

Hi everyone! We are new chicken parents to 8 very sweet babies. They are very loved by our 3 kiddos and dog! We are very anxious to learn if we have girls or boys, but have no idea how to tell...other than crowing and egg laying. They are 12-16 days old now. Is it too soon to even be thinking about this? Thank you all in advance! I've learned so much from you all already!

 

[paddock36]

Sometimes it depends on the breed. Other times only time can tell. One of the first giveaways can be the pink combs that develop early on little roos, but again it depends on the breed. Do you know what breed of chicks you have?

 

[SDBURCH200]

We have 1 Easter Egger, 2 ameraucanas, 2 olive eggers, 1 silver laced wyandotte, 1 silver-grey dorking and a dorking/Easter egger cross. They are feathering out...but no sign of combs yet. Will spurs show up at this age?

 

[BonRae67]

You may start to see little bumps where spurs would grow, bit that isn't fail proof either. Some hens get the little bumps but over time don't develop spurs.

 

[BantamLover21]

Usually, you can tell gender with chickens that are 6-8 weeks of age. Some breeds mature faster, so you can tell earlier, while others, like Silkies, mature so slowly that it is months before you know for sure.

 

[Elaine Elder]

Lay a chick on its back in your hand.
If it stays put and falls asleep 90% sure it's a girl

Feathering Rate
female on right
all must be same breed and age.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Usually, you can tell gender with chickens that are 6-8 weeks of age. Some breeds mature faster, so you can tell earlier, while others, like Silkies, mature so slowly that it is months before you know for sure.

x2

 

[vgrasser]

I have 6 little girls, but I'm unsure how old they are. Their wing feathers are in and they have 1/4 in tail feathers, they look similar but just a little older then lower picture submitted by Elaine Elder. My concern is my husband wants to put them in the coop with a light but I'm not sure they are old enough. The temperature here has been 70 to 86 degrees during the day and 60 to 70 degrees during the day. I had the lamp on at night and they seemed content to wander around and appeared not to be distressed. I being a worry wort stayed up all night checking on them. During the day I turned the lamp off after 9am and they were fine all day. I just want to sleep at night and wonder how old my girls are so I can be sure to provide the correct temperature.