Identifying Roosters

[seanb]

We have 12 chickens. 8 were ordered as hens and we assume but are not sure they are; time will tell. We picked up 4 more with no upfront info on sex. They're all 6 weeks old now and we're wondering if we'll have any roosters/cockerels. Can anyone tell us what to look for at this age? Or do we need to wait longer for better indications of sex?

 

[Barrdwing]

Some chicks will be showing evidence of redder combs and early wattle development at this age if they're roosters. Pea-combed breeds are much harder to tell than single-combed breeds, though. Rooster chicks will also tend to have thicker legs and be more massive than hen chicks, and this will become more and more obvious over the next few weeks.

Young roosters will at some point begin growing in pointed hackle and saddle feathers. I've seen this happen at a variety of ages, though, and if the chick was a single-combed breed, I usually already knew the gender by the time the feathering confirmed it. There are also differences in posture and behavior between males and females, even at a young age.

Some breeds are color-coded. Barred Rock chicks are an example: generally, males have yellow legs, and females have dark legs. Birds that have wildtype coloration (also known as the "duckwing" color scheme) have some differences in both their chick down and their juvenile plumage. There was a good article on this in Backyard Poultry; the link is http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/6/6-3/determining_sex_in_chicks.html

If you post photos, make sure they show the combs and wattles clearly, and also the backs of the chicks. There are some folks on the forum who are very good at judging gender based on photos. Good luck!

 

[JodyJo]

Yes, if you can post a few pics, maybe a few of us who have those breeds can help you out...plus we love to see other's pics!

 

[seanb]

Thanks for the replies. We're moving the chickens into the coop today so I'll post some pictures later on.

Thanks again!

 

[seanb]

Here are some pictures... the ones mainly in question are the two Andelusions and the two Cochins. Don't know how accurate I am about the breeds; just going on what we were told by the lady that sold them to us.

 

[seanb]

Here's the rest of them...

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

In the first set of pics, the first andelusion looks like a boy. I don't think your cochins are pure, doesn't look like they have single, straight combs- but they look like girls to me. And the last pic, the BR(?), looks like a boy. The rest look like girls. But I'm no expert. Good luck! They're beautiful

 

[seanb]

Yeah, the Cochins came from a Cochin rooster but I think the mother was something else. I wasn't even there to pick them up; just going on what my wife and her friend were told.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Barrdwing]

The last Barred Rock is a rooster, the first Andalusian is a rooster. Most of the rest look like pullets to me. I am fence-sitting regarding your two featherfooted birds: those pea combs can make it really hard to tell what gender you're dealing with, but the one that's feathering in rust on the shoulders makes me suspicious that it's a boy. But they're all cute!

 

[cmom]

The BR is a cockerel and the other that has more of a comb and wattles but the rest look like pullets.

These birds are the same age. Something to compare yours to even though they are not the same breeds the development is about the same.