We have some buff orpington chicks, 3 months old, and one has had the red on it's head for a few weeks already. Is this going to be a rooster or just an early matured hen?
Thanks, Mikki06
How to tell if I have a rooster.
hahaha, time will tell!! Some are easier than others, I've never learned the real trick, our babies are about 3 or 4 months and we still aren't sure about many of them...good luck!!
Mikki,
My buff orps are not even 4 weeks old, (NO KIDDING) and one has a very red comb growing up and little wattles coming out! The thing is, that I ordered all pullets. I'm hoping that "Lynnie" will in fact be a hen, not a roo! I handle her/him everyday and her/him is very friendly. Lynnie weighs about 3 pounds already too!
i have a chick at nine weeks that has a good sized comb and wattles about as big as a full grown hens, i beieve hes my single comb brown leghorn. his tailfeathers already have an arch.
from what I have heard, chick sexing is not easy. I know that when I have ordered chicks I have gotten all pullets, but sometimes a roo does slip in there at the hatchery. You'll just have to wait and see I guess :) Good luck!
This year I got three more roosters than I was supposed to. Grrrr.
Post a pic of your bird!
I've noticed in the McMurray catalog that roos are a LOT cheaper than hens, and that makes sense on SO many levels. I still don't have the chicken tractor, and I'm not getting any chickens until I do have one, but I'm wondering if I should get mature ones so I'll KNOW they're hens. I live in a neighborhood, and would have to get rid of a rooster if that's what one turned out to be, and I just don't know what I'd do. I honestly don't think I could kill one. How old do they have to be before you know for sure? (I'm thinking Buff Orps, Rocks, or Araucanas.) And are there real disadvantages to getting older ones?
Nope, there aren't, except that you don't get to enjoy little chicks. I got 4 bantam pullets this year and I really like them. I wish I had them younger, because then I could have handled them more as chicks. They are more skittish than my chickens I raised from chicks, but otherwise they are fine. You have a good chance of getting all pullets from a hatchery, but sometimes a roo does slip in.
If the hens are really old, they will not lay much or at all.
Yeah, I do want the eggs. But I just don't want to put myself in the position of having to kill a rooster, or give him to someone who's likely to kill him. And it makes sense that the earlier you get them, the more accustomed to you (and your rules) they'd be.
Yeah, like a chicken will obey a rule.
:P