how to tell???

[kymshenhouse]

I am completely new to chickens and learning more about them every day. But before I decide to get my own I would like to know if there is any easy way of knowing if a chicken is indeed a hen or a rooster when they are only at a chick stage??? Any hep would be gratefull.

 

[s6bee]

There are many signs and sexlinked birds can be sexed by color, so that may be a breed you want to look into.
Some folks use a feather wing test at 1-2 days old too. I can't off hand remember which way the feather look to indicate boy from girl but if you spread the wing out there will either be a row of feathers all the same length or 2 different lengths. Search her or internet for it.
Wish I could help more.

Good luck and welcome!

 

[PotterWatch]

I've heard of feather sexing, but I don't know if it works on all breeds or not. When I picked out my birds at our feed store, I tried to get ones that were a week or more old. I chose from the groups of sexed pullets (supposed to be 90% pullets at least), and I picked out the ones that didn't appear to have any boyish traits hoping to increase my odds. If one had a larger comb, thicker legs, a small tail, or wasn't growing feathers across the wing bows as well compared to the rest of the group, I didn't pick that one. So far it has worked for me, my six birds are all girls.