What genders are our chickens?

[argh]

First time raising chickens and have just joined BYC. We have 5 that we raised from chicks and are now 14 weeks old. Council does not allow roosters so we want to get on top of this before the neighbours start complaining (there has been some attempts at early morning crowing but we don't know which ones). We have our suspicions but want to get opinions from people with more experience. Would really appreciate some insight!

Chicken 1: Ameraucana 14 weeks







Chicken 2: Easter egger(?) 14 weeks







Chicken 3: Frizzle 14 weeks








Chicken 4: Australorp 14 weeks





Chicken 5: Barnevelder 14 weeks





Hoping there's a chance of finding the boys new homes but its not likely

 

[RockerHen]

The only one that looks like a pullet is the frizzle. The rest are cockerels. Obvious saddle/hackle growth. So sorry you can't keep them. They're very handsome.

 

[argh]

Oh dear. We thought maybe the australorp was a hen We actually started with 7 chicks, 2 died in the first 2 days and 4 are cockerels, this is a disaster!

 

[farmerChef]

the frizzle is the only hen. All the others have pointed saddle(back) and hackle(neck) feathers coming in.

chicken 2 looks like a dark cornish

 

[RockerHen]

See those slick, shiny, pointed feathers around the neck and around the base of the tail? That is male feathering. The ones around the neck are called hackles, the ones around the base of the tail are called saddles. Exclusively male feather features. You can see them very well in the second cockerel as his are colored red. These feathers on hens will not be slick, and will be rounded. These are things to look for in your future chicken ventures when checking gender. Don't let this discourage you though! Maybe purchasing started pullets since you cannot have roosters would be a better option for you than raising chicks and getting attached to them only to discover they are cockerels. I'm sure someone will want these birds, even if they are cockerels. Pure Ameraucana and barnevelders are hard to come by.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

The only one that looks like a pullet is the frizzle. The rest are cockerels. Obvious saddle/hackle growth. So sorry you can't keep them. They're very handsome.

x2

 

[farmerChef]

if your not allowed to have roosters, maybe you could get a few sexlinks. They pretty much only come in 2 colors, black and red. They are hybrids breed to be colored sexed at hatch, males are one color, and females another. They can very in shade depending on what breeds are used. Different hatcheries call them different things like Red/Black Stars, Cinnamon Queens, ISA Browns, etc. There are also "Gold" Sexlinks, which are just red sexlinks using a buff rooster instead of a red one, so the hens are gold/buff in color.

Red Sexlink

black sexlink

 

[BantamFan4Life]

^Yeah, red sex links would work

 

[argh]

Thanks everyone for your input! This is quite upsetting but I suppose we knew the risks when we decided to go with chicks. Definitely getting pullets next time!