Rooster?

[whispurr]

Is it possible to be able to tell a rooster from a hen when they are tiny chicks? I've had these chicks for 4 days and today I was two while I was watching tv. One of them was very calm and just went to sleep. The other one stood up tall, stretched out it's neck, and opened its mouth like it was crowing. I thought it wasn't until they were like 4 weeks old!

Teresa

 

[Mvan42]

Depends on the breed. Some can possibly be wing seed at a young age. Most you have to wait until they are 8 + weeks or often even older than that. Waiting for tail feather and waddle to grow..

 

[SilverBirds]

Unless you have breeds that you can tell by wing feathers or sexlinks, you won't really know until they are about 6-8 weeks. At about 4-5 weeks, roosters combs are typically bigger then hens. This is not entirely true though. I've had chicks with really small combs turn out to be roosters. Best to wait for feathers and comb/wattles to be sure. I have noticed that my sweetest chicks tend to be roosters, but again, this is is not surefire.

 

[Chicks in VA]

yes sometimes but it rare

 

[aart]

The other one stood up tall, stretched out it's neck, and opened its mouth like it was crowing.

It was probably adjusting it's crop.
Most breeds can be sexed by size and color of comb by about 6 weeks.