Help - are these hens or roosters?

[SheriM]

A few weeks ago, I bought a box of mixed young chickens at a local auction. 3 were standard size and the rest were bantams, so I separated the 3 bigger ones. They are now almost as big as my laying hens and are very crowded in the only cage I have available. I want to move them in with my laying flock, but I'm very new to chickens and don't know for sure if these are males or females. If they are cockerels, the rooster in with the laying flock may get mean with them and I don't want that to happen.

I took head shots of each of them. Can any of you chicken experts out there tell what they are? They're mixed breed, which doesn't help matters. For what it's worth, some of the young bantams I got at the same time are starting to crow, but these three haven't made any attempts at all. Does that mean they might all be hens?

I'm thinking this last one is a hen, but I'm not 100% certain.

 

[Blackbird]

Going by the neck feathers also.. I say all three are roosters.

 

[reinbeau]

No, don't be too quick. I'm thinking only the middle one is a roo. Sheri, post whole body photos, please, not just head shots, so we can get a better view of possible saddle feathers and their tails, that'll make it more definitive.

 

[Javamama]

Do you know how old they are? Full body shots will help.

 

[FarmerChick]

sexing a chick is not too hard but can you sex a big chicken????

LOL-LOL

can you turn them over and look????

I only buy hens now and have over 200 birds. But I never had to turn over a mature chicken and look! lol

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

going by head shots, first one is a pullet, middle one is a roo, and the third on, I need a full body shot, please.

Judging by it's comb, the last one looks like he/she may have some black sumatra in him/her. I had a black sumatra cross that for the longest time looked henish....had a small comb and wattles, and no saddle feathers....2 months later saddle feathers came in and he started to crow!

 

[Frosting]

No, don't be too quick. I'm thinking only the middle one is a roo. Sheri, post whole body photos, please, not just head shots, so we can get a better view of possible saddle feathers and their tails, that'll make it more definitive.

I agree.

 

[SheriM]

Thanks, everybody. I'll see what I can do about getting full body shots. They're in a small cage in a dark barn (which is why I need to move them), but I'll see what I can get.

 

[FarmerChick]

Can't you just turn them over and check???? LOL

seems the easiest way to me..LOL


Anyone do this on older birds?????




Instructions
Step 1Scoop up the chick in your left hand if you are right-handed or in your right hand if you are left-handed. The chick's feet should dangle between the pinky and ring fingers. The head should poke through between the index and middle finger.

Step 2Turn the chick so that its rear end and vent face you. Over a sink or a pile of newspapers, gently squeeze the vent with the thumb and index finger while pushing gently on the chick's abdomen with the ring finger. This should expel any feces in the vent to make it easier to see inside.

Step 3Spread the vent open gently using the thumb on the left side of the vent and the forefinger on the right side. Just inside the vent, a male will have a rudimentary sex organ, called a process. The process will be a small protrusion that may look somewhat like a penis or may look more like a button. Processes come in all shapes and sizes, but their presence indicates a male. Females have either no visible organ or slight indentations.

Step 4Place clearly identified males in one box and clearly identified females in another. Some chicks will be harder to sex because of the shape or size of their sex organs. Place these chicks in a third box after the initial attempt at identification.

Step 5Repeat the sexing process with the unidentified box of chicks. Look carefully for the presence of a process. Some female chicks may have a slight visible bump that may look like a process. If it is shiny, it is likely to be a male. If it is dull, it is likely to be a female. The accuracy of sexing chicks for amateurs will be less than a professional, usually in the 75 to 85 percent range, where a professional sexer is accurate approximately 95 percent of the time.

Step 6Watch the growing chicks closely as they feather out and begin to grow combs. Any misidentified chickens will be visually male or female at this point. If you plan on sexing your chicks regularly, keep a log to record your success rate and note any misidentifications to improve your accuracy in the future.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Thank you, FC!!! I just had some chicks hatch out this morning, I also have a chick that's a couple weeks old and it's a BC Marans...guess I'm going to start practicing and keeping a log of sexing my own chicks!

If I get decent enough at it, maybe I'll be able to offer up sexed chicks next year!!

Hey, would that count as a new SS Skill??????? :/