Newbie Question -Can you sex a Cornish X

[Fowl_Odor002]

Hello

One of my projects this year involves raising 5 meat birds for Thanksgiving. They are all Cornish Cross.
But my plans have changed, and I now want to keep one of my meat birds. I would like to keep a rooster and not a hen.

Since they are scheduled to depart for freezer camp at week 7-8, is it possible to identify male vs. female at such an early age?

They will be 5 weeks old this weekend. I think I got these strait run, but I am not sure.

 

[bigredfeather]

CX do not make good pets.

 

[jessicayarno]

Cornish X are not made to be kept longer than 8-9wks..

 

[galanie]

The roosters will grow bigger than the hens. Other than that, I don't know how you'd sex one 8 weeks old or less.

 

[Oregon Blues]

The males will be larger.

 

[Renee']

The males will have a redder comb, they will challenge each other, it's pretty obvious. Mine are only a few weeks old and I can already pick out several roosters. I think that due to their rapid growth they also sexually mature faster too. I can guarantee that at 8 weeks you will have no problem identifying a rooster.

 

[TrinityFarms]

I agree, you can tell the roosters apart at 8 weeks or even earlier by their dark red combs and larger wattles. If you're going to keep one you better put it on a restricted feed diet though! I've read a few accounts of people managing to keep some over the winter, but if you feed them too much they won't last long.

 

[donrae]

Mine were quite obvious at six-seven weeks. Larger, redder comb, thicker legs, larger bird.