RIR rooster vs hen chick

[TheSmallz]

I am new at this whole raising chickens thing, but I came across a thread saying that RIR hens will have a black stripe on their head and roos won't. WELL... We have 2 RIRs out of 6 chicks that we just picked up.

This is Mildred.


This was Maude, but now Moe? His neck is very long and he is tall. I knew it the minute he started yelling at me in the car on the way home. I am nervous about having a rooster on our first try with raising chickens. I guess we will just have to wait and see how he is.

Anyone know if there is a way to tell Buff Orpington hens and roos at this age? They are less than a week old and one of my BOs is quite large compared to the other. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE just tell me it's a big hen. :-(

 

[sourland]

It's a big hen.



I hope.

 

[TheSmallz]

I hope you're right! It looks the same as the other one but just quite a bit bigger. Cute little things and the Buff Orpingtons are so sweet and calm compared to the Black Australorps and the Rhode Island Red hen. The big BO was doing some pecking the other day on the other girls so hoping she is just a big mother hen. :-/

 

[TofuKat]

Please keep us posted on Maude/Moe's development! I'm in the same boat with three RIRs who are three weeks old. They seem much more aggressive than the others in the bunch. Also they're much taller than the rest.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

If anything at this age female chicks grow and develop faster than male chicks. So I wouldn't draw any conclusions yet. Also if these are hatchery chickens the sexing traits may not be 100% true either due to the fact that the chicks' heritage may not be totally pure.

In other words, you'll know when he starts crowing, or she starts laying.

 

[TheSmallz]

Let's hope you are right. I am willing to bet this is a rooster though. He walks like a rooster and his neck is super long like a rooster. I hope you are right about the hens growing faster though because the big BO is starting to make me think rooster more and more. I will keep you posted!