*UPDATE* (with pics) Im new, help me try and figure out the gender of my chicks

[ChickPixie]

Hi there! Ive just joined this forum because it kept coming up with every question I asked google!
Ive recently bought 3 chicks from my daughters kindergarten. Ive been told they are Lohmann Browns. No idea on sex. They are currently 18 days old and as you will see from the photos, one is developing brown feathers rather quick and has a small yellow crest whilst the other two seem to be on par for feather growth and similar coloured crests.
Id rather try and figure out if i have roosters or not now so i can then introduce another chick now whilst they are young! Im assuming this would be the best way to go about it???

This is chick#1 I am suspect of...






This is suspect chick #2 it has a brown stripe across its beak... sorry for slightly bad lighting, she is the most scared of me.


This is the one who is very different to the other two! Chick #3 has brown feathers on her chest and a smaller comb, she is also the friendliest one who will come up to me straight away and fall asleep on my lap.





Please help me! Im hoping I have at least 1 hen!!
I knwo its very early days, but ive done some research and heard that roosters a slower in feather growth and more white...
oh and the first two chicks has started getting slight brown tinges on the ends of there wing feathers, so they will most likely get brown soon...no idea if that helps?
Any help is aweome!!

 

[Michael OShay]

Lohmann Brown is one of a number of labels under which some hatcheries market their Red Sex Links which can be sexed by color at hatching (male chicks are whitish, female chicks are reddish). Assuming that these are Red Sex Links (Lohmann Brown), then they are cockerels. Pullets would be reddish. As far as the brown or reddish on the wing feathers, Red Sex Link cockerels will develop some reddish (or brownish) feathers in the wing and saddle areas.

 

[ChickPixie]

Oh so you think that all 3 are cockerels? What a shame! Do you think I should wait till they are older to confirm?

 

[Cowgirl71]

They're a bit young yet..... But I'm leaning towards cockerel on 1 and 2, and pullet for #3.

ETA: Yes, I would wait and see though. Post pics again when they're 6-8 weeks old. By then most cockerels are very noticeable to most anyone who has raised a few batches of straight run chicks before.

 

[Michael OShay]

Oh so you think that all 3 are cockerels? What a shame! Do you think I should wait till they are older to confirm?

If they are all first generation Red Sex Links (Lohmann Browns), they are all cockerels. However, since you got them from a kindergarten and not directly from a hatchery, they might be 2nd generation Lohmann Browns (or even some other breed altogether), and since Red Sex Links do not breed true and cannot be sexed by color at hatching, I would wait on them and post their pics again in about a month. My been their gender should be pretty obvious even if they are not first generation Red Sex Links.

 

[ChickPixie]

So today i realised that the 2 suspect cockerals are getting waddles (sp?) and the suspect pullet is getting more and more brown withno sign of waddles yet...
I know its still early but im seriously thinking that i have 2 cockerals and a pullet.
They are 4 weeks old now.
here are the photos, opinions are greatly appreciated!!
Also what should i do??? How do i introduce other chicks to my pullet? Or do i try and re home them all and start over again with sexed chicks? I relaly want them to be raised by my family and be tame and friendly towards us!
- suspected pullet...



suspected cockeral #1...

 

[bbhorsefly]

That depends on how many chickens you are planning on keeping and how many you have room for. If these are the only chicks you have, you may not have to rehome the boys if you have room to separate them if they start fighting, getting aggressive towards people, or oversexing your girl. You could also raise them until large enough to yield some meat and then eat them. If you want a small flock of sweethearts to cuddle and go egg hunting for breakfast in a single small coop and run, then you'll want to plan your chick genders accordingly. There is no reason to get rid of your pullet. She can be introduced to other chickens of all ages, if done appropriately. If they were mine, I'd hold on to them all for them time being. Get some more chicks in the brooder, and then sell off/butcher the boys when I had a closer number to the final pullet numbers I wanted. I currently have 25 of all ages ranging from 14 weeks on down to 2 weeks. The youngest five are still in the brooder. There hasn't been any serious fighting at all though I have 8 known boys.

 

[ChickPixie]

Where I live in not allowed to have roosters because of council laws. So I would need to get rid of the cockerels once they got bigger anyway.
What is a good way to introduce new chicks to existing chicks?
I may get another 3 sexed chicks so I know they are pullets. Do I need to get them the same age as my existing chicks?
What if the cockerels bully the newbies?

 

[K Spot]

Chick 1 - pullet
Chick 2 - cockerel
Chick 3 - cockerel

 

[bbhorsefly]

I'd go ahead and get the sexed chicks. Maybe even go ahead and advertise the cockerels. I'd just brood them where the older chicks can see them but not touch. Then when the little ones get a bit bigger start putting them in together. I haven't had any issues mixing all ages from several different breeders of several different breeds this way.