What gender are my chickens??

[mollychick2013]

Are the large chickens here roos or hens? They came from a black sexlink hybrid hen and brown leghorn rooster.


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[donrae]

rooster, hen, rooster.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Agreed.

 

[mollychick2013]

Out of curiosity, what is it determined by?

 

[chicken pickin]

I agree with the others. They are rooster, pullet, rooster.

You can tell by the coloring of their feathers. The 2 roosters are displaying classic rooster coloring which is flashy and splotchy with bright red patches. The pullet in the center pic has pullet coloring which is duller and an even color pattern. The 2 roosters are also getting the tell tale green tail feathers and have large red combs. They should be close to the correct age for the 2 boys to also have or starting to grow in hackle feathers and saddle feathers, those are the long skinny pointy feathers at their necks and where their backs and tails meet.

 

[Studio2770]

I agree with the others. They are rooster, pullet, rooster.

You can tell by the coloring of their feathers. The 2 roosters are displaying classic rooster coloring which is flashy and splotchy with bright red patches. The pullet in the center pic has pullet coloring which is duller and an even color pattern. The 2 roosters are also getting the tell tale green tail feathers and have large red combs. They should be close to the correct age for the 2 boys to also have or starting to grow in hackle feathers and saddle feathers, those are the long skinny pointy feathers at their necks and where their backs and tails meet.

What she said

 

[donrae]

Yep, it's all about the color and the pattern distribution. Spend several hours a day for 4+ years on this site, looking at other folks chickens, and you too will be able to spot a rooster at 50 paces

 

[Studio2770]

Yep, it's all about the color and the pattern distribution. Spend several hours a day for 4+ years on this site, looking at other folks chickens, and you too will be able to spot a rooster at 50 paces

Do silkies still present a challenge?

 

[donrae]

Do silkies still present a challenge?

Silkies....yeah....gotta say, I don't even try on those. I've had the thought over the years I should try to develop my eye for them, but honestly I have a hard time thinking of them as chickens

and am just not that interested. Well, I wasn't interested, until I read they can be used to make sex links...now I'm considering a silkie rooster