Too early to crow?

[TheKindaFarmGal]

So pretty! I’ve seen pics of hens with larger and brighter combs than yours. Is it possible some of my “seem to be cockarels” are just pullets developing faster? I’ve only identified 2 crowers...

Not at this age. Pullets only start getting big red combs and wattles when they're close to laying - yours have a while left.

 

[chickens really]

I have Orpington....Pullets can have Red combs at a young age...Take side view pictures of your Birds....also combs and wattles can be larger...

 

[Tlmcq]

I also see 6 possible cockerels. Sometimes they won't crow much, if at all, til the more dominant guy is gone. Compare the ones with bigger Combs to others legs too. The males should have thicker legs than females.

 

[igorsMistress]

That's possible yes. Watch how they play together too. The chicks that play fight are likely your boys. You'll see them jump up and act like they're going to claw each other. At least at this early age.
That's an average ratio, I got 4 chicks late summer, 2 boys and 2 girls. If you got them straight run it's not surprising.

 

[chickens really]

This is an Orpington/ Brahma at around 14 weeks...Clearly a Cockerel...The mix age at the same rate...

 

[MLeon]

I also see 6 possible cockerels. Sometimes they won't crow much, if at all, til the more dominant guy is gone. Compare the ones with bigger Combs to others legs too. The males should have thicker legs than females.

Yes, one of our crowers has very thick legs and is larger in size than the rest. And we had 1 more crowing this morning after we took the other one out. So I feel pretty confident we have at least 2 cockerels.

 

[aart]

Thank you for your reply! We have 5 with distinct red combs and 5 with nothing. Is it safe to assume we may have 5 cockerels in our group?!?!?

I see 5 there too.

This is an educational project through a county program. It’s for egg laying hens, but it seems everyone participating has more than 1 cockerel, judging by those fast growing combs. We were told 1 in 10 was possible, but half of them may well mean straight run! The students are supposed to auction their top 3, that means she may have to choose from a pool of 4-5 instead of 10.

Who ordered the chicks? Methinks they ordered straight run instead of all pullets(where you might get 1 out of 10).

 

[Jessica Chambers]

A lot of those look like roosters. I got 2 buff orpington pullet chicks, 1 turned out to be a rooster and looked a lot like the ones in your pictures around 6-8 weeks.

 

[MidnightMaran]

That's possible yes. Watch how they play together too. The chicks that play fight are likely your boys. You'll see them jump up and act like they're going to claw each other. At least at this early age.
That's an average ratio, I got 4 chicks late summer, 2 boys and 2 girls. If you got them straight run it's not surprising.

I agree that behavior is a good judge of gender, but does very occasionally prove incorrect (I know this from personal experience).

 

[MLeon]

we have now split our 10 chickens into two groups, 6 and 4. There are 4 larger ones in the group of 6, with bright red combs. In the last two days, they have been picking fights with each other, while the ones without combs just stay away. There’s a pic of the group of 6, the four “cockerels” front and center.