Leghorns & Rhode Island Reds (?) - Pullets or Cockerels?

[mleash]

Hello,
Can anyone help me determine the sex on these little ones? They are about 9 weeks old (hatched end of May). I have more pics, but it's hard to tell who's who...THANK YOU!

 

[BantamLover21]

Those are Red Sex Links, not Rhode Island Reds/White Leghorns. Red Sex Links (also known as Red Stars) are hybrid chickens that are known for being great egg producers and docile birds. Their main characteristic is that they are sex-linked, which means that at hatch (and throughout their life), the males will have a different color than the females. This makes sexing easy. The males will be white/yellow as chicks, with the females being orangish-brown. As they mature, females become reddish streaked with white, and males turn white with maybe some red on their wings.

Where did you get them from? Sometimes, due to the females looking similar to Rhode Island Reds, and the males looking similar to White Leghorns, hatcheries/chick suppliers unknowingly mis-identify Red Sex Link chicks.

Anyway, if I am correct in my assumption that they are Red Sex Links, you have three males and four females. Your hens will probably end up being enjoyable, great-egg laying birds, but you might want to get rid of some of those males.

Hope I've helped!

 

[mleash]

Thanks! We got them from our children's preschool- the county Ag extension provides fertilized eggs for early childhood classrooms around the state, and we adopted them after they hatched. We were told there were two different breeds hatched- the Leghorns and RIRs, but we are novices and have no idea!

 

[Wyandottes7]

As BantamLover21 stated, these are in fact Red Sex-Links, and you have three males and four females.

 

[mleash]

Great- thank you all so much! Well, I guess that's a better ratio than the other way around!

What age is best to harvest the roosters? What age will the ladies start laying?

Thanks!

 

[BantamLover21]

I really can't tell you for sure when the roosters will be ready to "harvest", as I've never raised this breed or meat birds. They will definitely mature slower than a commercial broiler would, as they are a dual-purpose breed. If I had to guess, though, I would say that you could consider harvesting you roosters at around 18-20 weeks of age.

As for the pullets, some start laying as early as five months. Some friends of mine have a few Red Stars, and theirs were the first birds in their flock to begin laying. I think that their Red Stars have only missed a few days of laying since beginning about a year ago!

And you're welcome! If you have any other questions, just ask.