Roughly how long before I know if they are Roos??

[ShanCarl1971]

I have my first 12 chicks!! Yayyy!!! Three of them were from a straight run batch of White Leghorns. In general, how long should it take to tell if any of them are roosters?? And what would be the first obvious signs?? (beside trying to crow, of course)

 

[sheila3935]

Combs will be bigger and more red and wattles will be bigger. Maybe you lucked out and got all girls. I picked 5 White Rocks from the straight run bin and got all 5 girls. That will never happen again.

if you post a pic maybe someone on here can tell.

 

[ShanCarl1971]

Well, right now they are only two weeks old ........ no notable differences yet, except that one seems particularly dominant ........ just wondering at what age the more obvious signs become evident, and what those signs would be. Are the differences in combs and wattles evident at a really young age?

 

[plucker]

I got 6 chicks from TSC (supposedly all hens) but it appears 2 are roos. At 6 weeks 2 have very red combs while the 4 have muted combs. I guess 2 of 6 is better than a coin flip. Still not sure what to do with roos.

 

[Anianna]

I have been told that, in most breeds, roos tend to feather more slowly. If you have some that appear to be feathering significantly less, that may help to tell. Of my five Delawares, I have four with similarly advanced feather growth and one that just looks like it's barely getting feather stubs. I'm hoping that means I have four girlies and one roo, which is exactly what I wanted. I also wanted one RIR roo, so when I went to Tractor Supply for 1 week-old chicks, I spent about 20 minutes staring at those chicks and comparing their feather development. Most of them were relatively similar and there was just one with much shorter wings. I bought that one and five others. When combs and wattles come in, I'll see if the feather technique is at all accurate.

 

[ShanCarl1971]

I guess I will just have to be patient!

I'm just so excited!!! I finally got me some chickens!!! I've been working every day to get things ready for their move to the great outdoors in a few weeks ....... husband says I "put the chickens before the coop" because I didn't wait until I had things ready before I brought home babies! LOL

 

[teeville5]

I suspected my roo at 2 1/2 weeks old. His comb just seemed a tad bigger than the others and he was not feathering as much and had a stub for a tail. At 4 weeks he was still the same, but his comb was a bit bigger and a more orange than yellow. At 6 weeks, his comb was much bigger, pink, and his wattle were coming in.

 

[misslady]

I was wondering the same thing myself, and was questioning why my biggest chicks (a SLW) feathers weren't coming in as fast, especially the tailfeathers! Looks like he's going to be our Roo! Thanks everyone.

 

[ShanCarl1971]

The two that I suspect are roos are just as feathered as the rest, but just walk and act different. One of them DEFINITELY rules the brooder!!

 

[franko]

I ordered seventeen chicks from Cackel. Fifteen girls and two roos. They mark an ink spot on the head of the two roos. After six weeks, I lost one roo but the mark is still on the other.