Telling the sex of a Chicken

[urbanchickchick]

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Just wanting to make sure...we can't have roosters where we live and will have to get rid of these guys if they turn out to be...guys. So sad! Love them.

 

[Kasey]

I see A LOT of roosters in that picture.....sorry. I'd say everyone in that pic is a roo.

 

[Kasey]

At least that's if they are all the same age. It looks like they are all the same size hard to tell for sure.

 

[urbanchickchick]

haha...sorry. The others are my adult female Black Sex Links. They are all hens, all laying well at age 2. The SLW is the one in question. He/she is 5 months. Couldn't get the girls to move from the pic. : )

 

[Kasey]

Lol I went back and looked and thought well I guess those could be hens... Hehe. The SLW is a Roo for sure though.

 

[mandelyn]

Typically the boys will mature at different rates, and it seems to be tied to dominance. The submissive one crows later, his comb and wattles take a little more time, and he's just generally in the shadow of the dominant rooster until later on. Meanwhile, the dominant male will seemingly mature faster, crow sooner (I've had some try it out at 6-7 weeks old!) and try out their "duties" early too.

But yeah, both boys. They should get along well until the submissive one decides he wants higher flock standing. Some never want to be in charge and there are no issues. Others want to start a hen collect of their own and start bickering with the leader. Time will tell how they'll keep things between each other.