How can a compete amature tell the difference between and hen and a rooster when they are still babies?
newbie question..
Mine are a month old thats the soonest I think a newbie like myself can tell.......look at the combs if it looks like its fully attached ALL the way to the top and not very "knobby" = pullet/female also you know how you can tell a man from a woman just by the way they walk - men have a higher center of gravity.......as in the Roo's walk taller.........I would also say watch their behaviour they know who's what read the thread on "Roo's not hens" half way down the page for more info and by the way........welcome we have some great people here I am just getting to know myself.
Mean
Queen
Nadine
This is a project my son's 3rd grade class is doing. They had the eggs in an incubator and moved them here when they hatched out. So far, there are 22 of them out of about 30 eggs that were viable. Got2Bgreen is adopting some of them. :o)
With all the children gathering around them, it's hard to get good pics. These are the best I could do.
A close-up.
Another close-up.
This one just hatched out last night.
The color is bad on this pic, but this the only brown chick so far. They weren't sure if it was going to live because it was so big that one of it's legs was bent up inside the egg. It took a few days for it to start walking. It looks like it's doing great now though!
mgh - how in the world am I supposed to pick just 4 or 5 of them? They are so cute! I want all of them.
Well, at this point, I think they are all available! LOL You wanted to start a chicken farm, right? LOL You should come see them one of these days.
Weeeeeellllll - I can't take 25 of them! I'll see if I can make it over on Monday.
MQN - Thanks for the info - I'll see if I can tell how they strut their stuff on Monday. If they are only just hatching, do I need to wait until they get a little older or will they move differently even now?
I think you will have more luck later on........the way the sex chicks in the hatcheries involves squeezing them so tight that they go "doodoo" and they look up the shaft for "bumbs" I would not know what to look for but that is the technique employed.
When I bought at the IFA store the lady there said she had good luck with pinching them by the BACK of the neck and kinda hanging them (think of a mother cat carrying kittens type of grasp) and that if they pulled their legs up they were males - on that advice I got 2 bantams (they had feathered feet - how could I resist?) thinking that one of them is male - here is the excerpt from the "Roos not hens" describing........
I believe they got from Privett and I have a bad feeling that 50% of my 4 are male. The americauna's (Sophia) definitely got a comb that is no longer attached to the head at the top and the way Sophia acts toward Athena is giving me pause.
They do this eye to eye confrontation thing (the others do this part to but not the rest...) and Sophia will.......how to describe...not fluff... doesn't sound menacing enough.......its like he/she has her "hackles" up along her neck. Like a cat not pleased......
What gets me is I had a misgiving when buying her/him (hey I can hope) because she/he was bigger then the rest. I let it go for age difference........Athena is still unable to fly though the other 3 have been for awhile......I have 2 bantams (Athena & Tanis) & 2 Americauna's. Thinking I will be ending up with only 1 of each makes me sad........Athena really is cute....Sophia is a bit of a bully already.....they do have their personalities.
The Cast
Cleo
Athena
Sophia
Tanis
The Crew
Mean
Queen
Nadine
PS if you want to try a little experiment try the needle on the thread thing that they do to a pregnant woman's belly - my mother swears by this - I have no opinion........oh and in case you do not know that "thing" its just a threaded needle you hold the thread then rub the needle on the belly or the chick and then move the needle to above the chick or belly and it should move back and forth in a straight line if male & in a circle if female - if it doesn't move well thats just really bad news for the pregnant woman..........
They squeeze the doodoo out of them?!!!! I don't know if I could do that....bleh!
This message was edited May 11, 2007 2:14 PM
Thanks for the info - I might try the "hanging" technique.
I saw the squeezing thing on that show called "Dirty Jobs." I don't think I could do that either.
Got2, if you are going to hang the chicks you better come at the end of the school day so the kids don't see you doing that. Otherwise they'll all be doing it too! LOL
I would definitely do "kid friendly" hanging.
8-P
Remember just the back or bad results. - Really try both techniques (The hang & The needle) let us know, how it goes
I think the only way to sex chickens is either to be a professional who knows how to sex day old chicks or to wait until they're old enough that the males' combs are obviously larger than the females, especially when they have pea combs like the Ameraucanas.
My one month old rooster's comb is much, much larger than the pullets' and it's attached all the way across back and front. And in my flock I had a few years ago I saw young pullets doing the face off thing so that's no real indication either.
Maybe this link will help.
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/95/sexing-chicks-in-the-backyard-flock
I know you can kill a chick slowly and painfully by "sexing" it badly.
Our roos tend to develop wing and tail feathers more slowly than the pullets, and I agree about the "tall walking."
Yup, I agree. You just have to wait it out. It is part of the fun and gives you something to mull over in boring meetings :)
Then what do you do with the roos that you didn't want....if they end up being roos?
Mine go to a friend's house where they are butchered with or without my help and put into the freezer for a pot pie and then soup.
I know that doesn't appeal to everyone, but I've never had a rooster who was happy living alone, and one rooster to one hen makes for a very unhappy and beaten-up hen. I have a 1 rooster per 8 hens ratio.
I had a feeling that's what most did, but I wasn't sure. I don't know if I could do that......how 'bout you, Got2B?
There are people who will buy roosters for meat, and I would make sure that's what's actually happening, because there are others who will fight them, and I will *NOT* let that happen to one of my birds. Much better to have a happy life and quick death IMO.
'Course, I'm not a rooster.
LOL, neither am I, but I don't agree with fighting them either.
... guess we'll have to wait until a rooster weighs in on the issue. Any out there?
Well, I'm not a rooster, but around here there is something called freecycle, which is a email listserve where if you want to get rid of something you offer, and if you need something you ask. I've gotten rid of a few roos for friends on freecycle and I'm asking around about getting one for a friend now. You can specify you want them to live, or go the no questions asked route. :)
Well, I'm not a rooster, but around here there is something called freecycle, which is a email listserve where if you want to get rid of something you offer, and if you need something you ask. I've gotten rid of a few roos for friends on freecycle and I'm asking around about getting one for a friend now. You can specify you want them to live, or go the no questions asked route. :)
that's also why I get my gals sexed through a hatchery. so I have less of an issue with that at my farm. What to do with roosters is a constant problem :) You know how men are! (j/k!!)
Freecycle or craigslist are great, no question, but I've heard a few stories (unverified) about people getting roos for cockfighting off of these lists. Just a heads up.
That's what I was thinking......ya just don't know what they will do with them after they get them. I think I'd rather eat it! LOL
Wow! This thread has been busy. Thanks for all the info - I definitely don't want them fighting but I'm not sure about killing them either. Maybe I'll talk to my neighbors to see what they do and/or if they know someone who would take them if they turned out to be roos.
Most of the Roos needed for Cock fights are the OEGame roosters and I dont think many of us raise them! They arent good for much of anything,except shows cause they are a tall tough bird! They are kept in tiny cages with a tiny shelter . You can pass by these game bird farms and there will be a couple of acres of these tiny 3ft by 4ft ( approx.) enclosures! Its so sad! The owners say they are raising show birds not fighters!!! Well then my Question is ,,,"Why Do they have acres of the cages with only Roosters???" Hmmm, You all do the math!!!
Around here, it's any rooster. These people will use anything for their sick habit.
I've heard about those game bird farms... that's sad, Eufaula.
Re; cockfighting
that is a possibility and a good point.We don't have that up here, so it isn't an issue, but where you are it might be. Here people look for roos to protect the flock of hens. So I'd say use your judgement.