Please help a newbie with breed and gender

[PharmDRanch]

I bought chicks from three different sources this spring, in a hopes to get a variety of breeds. I think I did a horrible job of picking out chicks ;-) because I fear most of them are male.

There are several that I'm 99% are roosters, and I'd like to determine their breed in hopes of finding them better homes. I'm hoping you guys can confirm my suspicions. I can keep a rooster, but right now I think 7 or 8 are roosters :-( I bought some "hens" last week, and I think I was duped by the seller. I'm trying to get her to take them back, but I doubt I will. I didn't plan on getting them, but they needed a home, so I caved. I'm really not 100% sure what gender most of them are. How do I select a good rooster to keep other than temperament? I might like to hatch a batch of chicks out in the future, but I'm mostly raising chickens for eggs and entertainment


I'll give each picture a number and a description of what I know about the bird. Thanks for your positive help in advance. Sorry the pictures aren't great, but they wouldn't hold still, and they are still a little skittish.

1.) Mostly black. Must a rooster, crows constantly about 3 months old, came from a feed store. What breed?



2.) Mostly red. Came with bird #1. Same body shape, about 3 months old, assuming rooster. What breed?



3.) Two Polish came with #1 and #2. I'm guessing they are roosters based on their tail feathers, about 3 months old. Very docile, but maybe because that's because they can't see well. Is one a silver laced and the other just black? How do I correctly describe their coloring? Safe to assume they are both male?



4.) Barred Rock, about 2 months old. I was told even the hens have large combs, so could this be a hen?



5.) All of these are about 2 months old, came from same batch as #4. The last three are supposed to be red sex link or production reds. What are the first three? They are supposed to be silver laced wyandotte and ameracauana, but which ones are which (or are they something else)? I have two of each (one not pictured). The second and third ones in line are the same color/breed, but one has a more pronounced comb. I'm guessing the one with the bigger comb is male.

Here is a better picture of one of them standing up.





6.) These two black and white ones are also about 2 months old (one was pictured in the last picture). One has more black feathers and a larger comb, is it safe to guess he's male? What breed?



7.) This red bird is about 6 months old, and a RIR, if I can trust the information from the previous owner. Male? Breed?



8.)This white/brown/black one is about 6 months old if I can trust the information from the previous owner. He has started crowing quietly. Male? Breed?



9.)This black/red guy is about 6 months old if I can trust the information from the previous owner. He has started crowing quietly.Male? Breed?



Thanks for your help. Sorry for such a long post.

 

[PharmDRanch]

Oh, and what is the youngest age/weight for eating the roosters? I'm trying to find them home already, but no one wants them.

 

[blondiebee181]

I would say most of your assumptions about gender are probably correct....and from what I read mostly in posts like this is that it is really, really hard to tell with the young ones which are male and which are female until they grow tails, spurs or start to crow....I would say most of your breed insights are correct too, but I highly doubt any of these are purebred based on what I see....most of them look like mutts...which isn't bad if all you want is meat or eggs

The ones with cheek tufts must have some Americauna in them...that's typical....the ones with the lacy looking black and white feathers probably do have some SLW in them....and good luck with the roos...I can tell you right now that unless they are pure-bred or have some incredibly distinctive personality trait that somehow makes them more desirable, you probably won't be able to even give them away....as to their appropriate slaughtering age, it depends a lot on what you feed them and how big you want them to be...but I think you can process them as early as 3 or 4 months...someone tell me if I'm wrong...all my birds are laying hens so I don't have much experience with processing roos. Good luck!

 

[PharmDRanch]

Thanks Blondie! Now I have to see if Mr. PharmD will slaughter them (I hate using that word!) I guess I'll start with the 6 month olds once I've had some time to detox them. They are getting local produced grain, that I'm fermenting thanks to several threads on here.
If I order from a hatchery next year, will I have any better luck getting hens? I'll have to find someone locally that wants to split an order because I don't need 25.

Any one have any other guesses on the breeds? Or how I should pick one to keep?

 

[blondiebee181]

Hatcheries will almost always sell you sexed pullets if that's what you want...they usually cost a bit more, but it saves you the guessing games by 99%.....it's not unusual for a cockerel to accidently slip in but usually they'll all be female.

 

[donrae]

Yep, you've got a lot of roosters, sorry.

Mixed breed rooster, could be a copper Marans but I can't see the comb well enough.
Easter egger rooster
silver laced and white crested black polish. I'm not the best at Polish, but I think the silver laced is male. The black bird, I'm not as sure. The crest is even all over, not the wild look of a male. Could be female, a better pic would help. Profile shots, including legs and head are best.
barred Rock cockerel

Your group shot--the first bird is an Easter egger, then two silver laced Wyandottes. One male, one female on the slw from what I can see. I can't see the EE that well, but that color pattern is pretty universally male. Better pics of it and it's twin would help confirm. Your red birds are production reds, and all look female from what I can see. You can see how much comb that little barred Rock guy has at this age, none of the Red birds are near that.
7 hatchery Rhode Island Red rooster.
8&9 are Easter egger roosters.

Some folks process as soon as they start crowing. Myself, I do it around the 5-6 month mark. That's about the time they top out for gaining weight. If they're obnoxious or too much for the hens, they go sooner.

Hatcheries usually run 90-95% accurate on sexing, so ordering pullets is a good thing. Not all hatcheries have a 25 bird minimum, check out a few. I know if you order a smaller number from say Ideal, they'll throw in extra males to keep everyone warm enough and alive during shipping. You'd just have to call the hatchery and see how many they'll do. A lot depends on the time of year, colder weather needs more bodies for warmth.

Something else to keep in mind is to go ahead and order the 25 birds. Brood them out to 6-8 weeks and sell off the ones you don't want/need.