Rooster or Hen

[Msav]

Ok,
Before you say "another Rooster or Hen Thread"

I am just going to ask for criteria for what is a Cockerel and Pullet. Cause I have 45- 10 to 9 week old chicks. I am not going to post photos of all 45 and ask for opinions. (Unless you really want me to).

I have taken top and front photos of each chick when they were 8-7 weeks old but I am missing 4 of them. (somehow we missed 4)

Is it a good indication of a Cockerel if they do not have their saddle feathers yet. Some of them just have the porcupine quills there. That is what I was using as a main criteria at this age.

The breed of these are all over the place because I sourced the fertilized eggs from backyard chicken enthusiasts who did not keep separate flocks and had multiple breed roosters with multiple breed hens. so it is a huge mix. They referred to them as backyard mix.
I have tried to also use the saddle feathers as criteria as well but I have heard that the shape of the feathers can also vary from breed to breed. I have read a lot of these threads and I have my guesses but I would like to start thinning down my Flock using better criteria as I can't keep buying 80lbs of feed per week to feed these Cockerels.

Let me know if you guys would like me to post up my google drive links with the photos if you guys really like playing the Cockerels vs Pullets guessing game.

also here is the list of breeds that were involved in the creation of my Frankenstein chickens.

Source 1
Lemon Deathlayer
Splash Black/White Blue Egger

Black Copper Maran
Black Jersey Giant
Barred Cuckoo Maran Cross

Source 2

Isabel Orpingtons
Barnvelder
Leghorn
Black Onyx
Brahmas
Gold Laced wyandotte
Blue breasted brown leghorn
Silver laced Sussex
Easter egger


Source 3

French black copper maran
Death layers
Easter eggers
Americana
Buff brahmas
Speckled Sussex
American breese
Black Jersey giant
Gold/silver/lemon Deathlayer

 

[HoneyBeeHomestead]

Hi. My preference at this age is to focus mostly on the comb and wattle. You can look at neck and saddle feathers, but with so many different breeds and crosses, it can be difficult not having any of the same breed to compare to. So for cockerels, I look for a large comb that is red or starting to turn red, and growing wattles. Pullets at this age should have small combs that are yellow or light pink, and their wattles are barely noticeable. When in doubt, give them a couple more weeks. Breeds with small combs are usually more difficult, like Easter Eggers. I'd happily give my best guesses on any of them if you aren't sure!

 

[Msav]

Hi. My preference at this age is to focus mostly on the comb and wattle. You can look at neck and saddle feathers, but with so many different breeds and crosses, it can be difficult not having any of the same breed to compare to. So for cockerels, I look for a large comb that is red or starting to turn red, and growing wattles. Pullets at this age should have small combs that are yellow or light pink, and their wattles are barely noticeable. When in doubt, give them a couple more weeks. Breeds with small combs are usually more difficult, like Easter Eggers. I'd happily give my best guesses on any of them if you aren't sure!

Yea. I got most sorted out by using those indicators. I have quite a few Black Onyx that have black (Grey) combs so for them I can only go by size. I have deemed some of them to be Cockerels due to the size of their combs alone, not sure how accurate my guesses are. I know in nature there is always exceptions so I expect to be wrong on quite a few.

 

[Msav]

for anyone who wants to guess.
here is the google drive link. it is separated by my bets guesses as to what I think they are.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KI7ugLlfQkDjuc0881bvZHDn9-de52ej?usp=drive_link

 

[Predoggg]

I suggest to look at waddle developments. At this age hens should not have any or barely any waddles. If they are single comb breed will they have a well developed one and a red comb. All other comb types are a lot harder for me to sex.

Behavior like chest bumping, stretching the neck to see something would indicate rooster too. Some roosters will start trying to crow at that age.

 

[HoneyBeeHomestead]

Hmmm.. I went through them pretty quickly, but I have a few thoughts.
I feel like R3 and R9 have the potential to be pullets.
H1, H4, H6, H16, H21, H22, H23, and Omlet are all ones I'd keep my eye on as potential cockerels. This is mostly just based on comb sizes/reddness.
H19 I'm pretty sure is a cockerel based on the size of his comb.

 

[Msav]

Yea, some of those Pullets you mentioned I put as hens for wishful thinking. Looks like I may end up with a bunch of roosters. I hope Omlet is not a Cockerel as she is the only chicken friendly enough that we named.

so I take it that saddle feather growth or lack of growth is not a good indicator of sex.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

Okay…

Switch these from females to males:

Switch to ambiguous, leaning male:

Switch to ambiguous leaning female:

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

All the ones I kept in their categories or moved, I am extremely confident in the genders and say it’s safe to rehome. I would keep the ambiguous ones around for now since they’re a mix of breeds and may have different maturity rates.

 

[Msav]

Thank you for your input I have made notations. These photos were taken 2 weeks ago. so More that likely they have probably changed enough to make them a little more easier to identify. I have not examined them really good since the photos were taken, however I have noticed ones that I banded with a blue band (to rehome) and noticed a few that I thought lost their blue band cause they were definitely cockerels.