What are so ole trick to being able to tell if it could be a rooster or a hen?????? I have 10 orpingtons and 10 RIR alll pullets ( supposedly) but I ahve a few that are twice the size as the other soi i was just wondering if any ole wise tails could help me out and put the pullet to the test. Thx alot!!!!
I have no experience sexing them, but I can tell you that Orps are WAAAY bigger than RIR's. I have both.
I wouldn't just go by the size or the aggressiveness. The only way to really tell is when they are about 3-5 months and you can tell because the males get the pinfeathers (longer pointed feathers that drape a little by the tail) or when you get one crowing or laying an egg! I thought I was pretty good at telling which was which before that time, but in reality I was only right 48% of the time.
The males will have bigger combs. They will be redder and starting to show on their heads. By 5 or 6 weeks you would have a pretty good idea. Plus, the boys are more active/aggressive than the girls. They would be trying to climb higher, they would be trying to escape, play fight...generally "braver" activities than the girls. Does this help? As for old sexing tales...there are some about if their feet stick out straight when they lay down, then they are boys...do a search because there are a lot of ideas out there.
My RIR's that I suspect of being roos are braver and more aggressive, and they are very slow to get their tail feathers. Pullet Both of the brown butts in this picture are the ones I think are gonna be Roosters - and they barely have any tail feathers yet. They're all about 9 days old, but I would bet my next paycheck on it. Can't wait till they are old enough to be sure. I think the wives tales are about as good as guessing. In fact I'm putting a whole lot more stock in my guesses than I would in any of the leg tricks. They seem to move their legs differently depending on their mood when I pick them up, so no clues there. (I'm unemployed lol)
