Six out of eight are roosters??

[lengel]

Eight black sex link chicks. Four and a half weeks old.

Six have pink/reddish combs and fly at each other all day long. Two have pale yellowish combs and tend to stay in the corner, "guarded" by the most aggressive of the other chicks.

Do I have six roosters? I tried to take a pic but you can't really tell since the light is really bad.

 

[bangor777]

This is probably a stupid question but..... aren't the sex linked chickens easier to tell apart as far as gender? I thought they were rather safe bets? I'll be interested to see what others say.

 

[ebonykawai]

Where did you get them and did you order all pullets? Sex link male and female chicks are easily separated by color and it's doubtful that a hatchery would screw that up. If you picked them yourself and didn't know the difference, then I could see that happening, but not from a hatchery.

 

[lengel]

We got them from the local feed store. It was a "pick 'em yourself" kind of operation and I have no idea of what I'm doing.

Please tell me what I should be looking for - in my own brooder box

.

 

[chickenshadow]

We need pics but you could look at their legs. You can usually tell the difference
by week 4. Roosters have thicker legs.

Note: Not a science and doesn't work with Barred Rocks.

 

[Kessidy]

In black sex links the females heads are all black, the males have a white spot on the head.

 

[lengel]

No white spots on anyone's heads (yay!).

Thicker legs - not so sure. It would help if they weren't growing so fast that I have a hard time telling them apart day to day. I'll check them out tomorrow in the daylight.