What to look for to determine sex

[Heathero617]

Ok..here we go on another ride!!!!

As you know >if you read my ramblings< i have 10 chicks that are about 5 to 6 weeks of age >i think< I'm trying to figure out who i need to rehome and who I can keep. I hqave 6 SIX who are developing longer tail feathers than the others, is this a "sign" that these 6 are roosters? I'm not noticing spurs or anything yet but the others have much shorter tail feathers. I want to have a few roosters, don't get me wrong, but I dont want to one day go in there and find a masacre because I have too many vying for top gun.

Any help would, well...HELP LOL

 

[chicmom]

Hi!

Longer tail feathers don't necessarily mean rooster. In fact, I've found that the little roosters (cockerels) often keep their baby fuzz longer, and they often have much smaller tail feathers.

Things to look for are, bigger combs and wattles, bigger legs, a shorter, more chunky body shape, slower feathering, a more agressive behavior like chest bumping......

Hope this helps....Sometimes they sure can fool you!

Good luck!

 

[Heathero617]

I've been watching their combs but dont see any real difference, i have several different breeds in there and compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges and it seems i've got 2 of the rocks have longer tail feathers than the other one, 2 of the dominiques have longer tail feathers than the other one, and both RIR have long tail feathers. The cochins, well they are just too little and I wont mind if those are both roos. Like i said, I dont want the great poultry masacre on my hands yet again.

 

[Missoula Chicken Lady]

Regardless of what sex they are, giving them some more space might help? If they can get away from each other, unless it is some sort of gang attack (have seen this, not pretty), it seems fights are reduced just by virtue of fewer encounters...

I look for thick legs, early overall growth, and aggressive curiosity as potential indicators of roosters after as little as three days, though only time truly tells.

Often three months or more before I'm certain with my chickens -- but they are all slow-growing, heritage dual-purpose breeds.

Good luck!

 

[Heathero617]

Its funny, my one little cochin guy was bumping chests with ALL of the others the other day. At first I thought he/she saw a few had something in their beaks that he/she wanted, but then he/she started "bullying" all of them for a few minutes. Then he/she went back to doing his/her own thing. I just giggled and decided to name him/her Billy for "Billy bad a**"

 

[sheila3935]

As for the white rocks at that age the boys combs will be starting to get red and they will have more wattle development than the girls. The cochins can be tricky but usually the same. Mine were crowing at 6 weeks. I have never had Doms, but they are like the barred rocks with pea combs so I would say the lighter colored ones would be boys darker girls. I have White Rocks that are 6 weeks and they are girls they have no wattles yet and there combs are still small and beige color. My cochin boys had red combs and large wattle development at 6 weeks noticeably different