how to tell a rooster from a hen

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jesusromero33

jesusromero33

Hatching
Oct 24, 2016
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i'm am still wondering how you can tell if your chick is a rooster or a hen this is a question i've been wondering for years because i bought some chicks they where guaranteed 100% hens but some how a got three rosters why?
 
You can't tell on chicks unless you know how to vent sex, which is an uncommon skill and not very easy to learn. Though there is a 2-5% margin of error, if you purchased three pullets and got three cockerels then the seller was either mistaken or lying.

Once the birds get older, there are a variety of ways to tell. Males will have larger combs which will begin to redden up anywhere between 2-10 weeks of age, whereas pullets will have small and very pale pink or yellow combs until they near laying age.

At about 10-13 weeks cockerels will develop male specific saddle and wing bow feathers. They will be long, sharp, and somewhat see-through, especially around the edges.

Cockerels will (often) stand taller than pullets.

Cockerels will (often) have larger feet than pullets.

Cockerels will (often) be bolder and friendlier than pullets.

(These last three aren't necessarily all that accurate on their own, but used in combination with each other and comb/feathers they can be quite helpful).
 
Greetings from Kansas and
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! Pleased you joined us! I concur with all that QueenMisha said on this topic. Best wishes and thanks for joining us!
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Hello and welcome to BYC - great that you have joined us. @QueenMisha has described the differences perfectly, so I'll just say a big hello.

Best wishes
CT
 
i have a rooster that's at least 6 months old and it attacks make little brother and cousin and i need advice from you guys what should i do to help it stop attacking my lil brother and cousin and how to build a saff coop for may chickens because a raccoon got in and killed three of my chickens and one rooster i trapped it but it keep coming back no matter how far i put it in the woods
 
jesusromero33 said:
i have a rooster that's at least 6 months old and it attacks make little brother and cousin and i need advice from you guys what should i do to help it stop attacking my lil brother and cousin and how to build a saff coop for may chickens because a raccoon got in and killed three of my chickens and one rooster i trapped it but it keep coming back no matter how far i put it in the woods
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Every person you talk to will have their own opinions about aggressive cockerels. Mine is that they are not worth the feed they consume. Yes, with weeks and possibly months of "training", in the form of either carrying them around or scaring the crap out of them, depending on who you ask, cockerels can be taught not to go after people. However, you can never trust them. Most will eventually get after you again. They may be taught that a certain person is the "alpha" over them, but they will still go after any guests or unknown people who enter the pen. Certainly I would never leave a child or timid person in a pen with one. Overall, they greatly detract from the poultry keeping experience and make it miserable to care for and watch after your birds. The best choice is to give them away for free and don't ask questions about who purchases them. The proper place of an aggressive cockerel is in the stew pot - you may like him, but do not make the mistake of thinking he likes you in any way.

As for coop advice, I am terrible at anything building related - please make a thread and post photos of your current set up in the coop and run construction section of the forum.
 

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