is there a cock in the hen house?

[brahmamomma]

so how long exactly till i can tell if some of the straight run chicks are roos? im nervous!!

 

[Deedrahsue]

The roosters tails in the back are larger is one way, but of course that is only after they've lost those beautiful baby soft feathers. They walk around like their waiting on a fight very straight and in my experience they are very long legged. They won't start to Cock a doodle do for months and months but you can see the difference once you've raised your first round. Good luck

 

[brahmamomma]

thank you so much, and as for the luck.....im sure ill need it!!! lol

 

[ScottM]

Look for the comb and waddles look more red or develop more than the others

 

[Fred's Hens]

Straight Run chicks mean that you'll have more than your share of cockerels.

Flip a coin 10 times. It is rarely 50-50. Ordering chicks using "straight run" often means getting lots of cockerels. Yes, watch for those who stand erect. Head held up and attentive. The combs are red, while the pullets stay a more yellow color longer, usually. The cockerels will also have small wattles much, much earlier than the pullets. Often their legs are thicker and feet a little larger as well.

 

[brahmamomma]

well they arent technically straight run, but 3 of our local agways went bankrupt and now a woman in town with a farm gets chicks for everyone. she sexs them the best to her knowledge, but i guess being new at it she isnt always 100%. someone i know got 6 "hens"from her, 4 wound up being roos. she does take them back and rehome them. which is good, i havent gotten them yet, i am just taking precautions!!! i want a small flock of 6 or so, so i am thinking maybe i should get 9 or 10 chicks? just incase 50% wind up being roos. i am nervous about that since i have closer neighbors than most, and want to keep them happy. so im just trying to figure out how long it takes to recognize them, and the signs to look for.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I understand your predicament. With some breeds, the differences show up by 5 weeks and they can be sexed fairly easily at that point. With other breeds, the lady selling them couldn't possibly sex them. Even the hatcheries who use feather sexing and vent sexing only assure a 90% accuracy rate. Some breeds are so tough that even at the 12 week point, after you've fed them for months, the differences are somewhat difficult to detect.

If she takes them back? You'd be good. I guess if I were in your situation, I too would get a few "extras" because it seems highly unlikely the sexing will be accurate. This is precisely why hatcheries sell so many sex-links. These are chicks, of course, that display their sex at hatch. Males being white and females being red, for example. Sex linking only works in some cases, and in most cases, this is producing hybrids (mutts) which doesn't satisfy everyone's desires for pure breeds either.