Ok well tonight could be the night.. Do roos and hens get a foot spur?

[chick818]

Well we started out to get our children their first chickens as babies for Easter. And because we wanted them for the spring we had to rush to get them where ever they were available at that time. (1st mistake)

Then we tried to look at the wing feather growth to see if I can tell the wing sexing method like they do on McMurray. (2nd mistake) OK, What the Heck right. We want them as pets anyway. SO what are the chances that out of 4 chicks they would all be roosters. Slim right? There just has to be at least 1 or 2 of them are hens.

Well after raising these chicks for about a month now, handeling them all the time and getting them nice and friendly, who has combs who doesn't. We have been sure that at least 2 were hens and the other two were possible Roosters. Makes sense 50/50 chance right?

WRONG!!!!! As my *@#!&%* luck would have it, tonight I realized that all four of these chicks are developing spurs on their back feet.

But wait folks cause here's the KICKER..... We can not keep Roosters in the town we live in. We figured we would have to give the ones that were roosters to a good home, and we would keep the others, this way, all the time and efforts we had put in to the others to get them to know and trust us would pay off at least with the others.

But no, and I can't believe this. My kids are going to be soo disappointed. I may try to keep the 2 sweet ones at least for awhile, or until I get a complaint. Then look to place them some where the kids can visit them. And now I have to start all over.... And to boot one of them might be sick (genitics) You can see that post under the diseases topic and the post says "wasting" and it could be fatal.

Sometimes I feel like If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all....lol

AHHH..... I need a drink...

 

[speckledhen]

Roosters dont really get spurs till they are about seven to eight months old. ALL chicks have a tiny bump there, even the pullets.

 

[emvickrey]

My 2 roos are just over a year old. A couple of onths ago I noticed they had these growths coming out the side of their legs near their toes. The hubby said it was spurs forming. Well, now they are turning into what looks like a claw.

I don't think what you are seeing is a spur. Too soon for it to form. The way I tell is by the comb. The roos is red and grows faster than the pullet. Also if you have 2 roos in a cage together they will most likely spar each other. But I have seen pullets to that also. I go mostly by the comb and waddles. By 8 weks you should be able to tell for sure. If you have a rooster it wll be grown more than the others and red, or a darker red than the others.

A more experienced person could probably give you better advice but that is what I do. I haven't been wrong yet. But there is a first for everything.

 

[chick818]

Quote:
Oh that would be great. They are not that old 5 going 6 weeks, but they all had that same spur so I thought for sure.... So there is still hope that chicks could still be at least 1 hen. Just one at of our hand held batch of babies.... would be nice...

Thanks for the glimmer of hope!

 

[ChickenCharmer]

No, the first way to tell if it's a roo is by comb development. Spurs wont be coming for a looong time. And even so, spurs are not reliable because I know of several hens that have spurs, including one of my own! If any of your peep's combs are getting red, THEN its a cockerel. If not, you've got pullets! (so far)

 

[chick818]

What about that little bit of red on I guess what would be called the jaw line? The combs are not red yet. But one for sure acts like a roo.

 

[Badhbh]

Can you post pictures? It's hard to tell from a description

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Chick818, all of my female chicks have those little leg bumps right now. My 1 year old roo started really growing his spurs, just like Speckledhen said, when he was about 8 months old or so. But his comb and wattles, as well as his feathering, gave his sex away when he was about 8 weeks old.

Can you post pics of your babies?

 

[fshinggrl]

I hope you get all hens!! Keep the faith!

 

[chick818]

Robin'sBrood :

Chick818, all of my female chicks have those little leg bumps right now. My 1 year old roo started really growing his spurs, just like Speckledhen said, when he was about 8 months old or so. But his comb and wattles, as well as his feathering, gave his sex away when he was about 8 weeks old.

Can you post pics of your babies?

If you wouldn't mind I would love to post pictures. They are about 6 weeks or so. I am not sure if they are all the same age since 2 are fully feathered and two are not. Although one of the "nots" may be sick. So that is the other topic I have been researching. I will take some pictures and post them later. I have to run out this morning. Tune in later and I'll put some pics. And thanks, for taking the time.....