Gender of my Chicks!

[jezzka]

Hi guys!
I'm new to this forum and would like you experts out there to see if you can determine the sex of my chooks! I have 3 Rhode Island Reds and I know it can be hard to tell to sex them so young, but I have either 2 roos and a hen or 1 roo and 2 hens!

[Small pumpkin]

Hi jezzka welcome to the forum.
Sorry I can't help with sexing. But they are very cute. Give it a couple of weeks and you will be able to tell who's who.

[Scarlet]

I think it's too early to tell, it's not easy when their in your hands either. You need to see the legs, how they stand etc. though I love a guessing game...a few more pics in a week or so would be good.

# but a rule of thumb is you always get more boys than girls
One hatch of mine was 8/1

[Guest]

I would say 2 roos 1 hen but I have been wrong so many times . It doesn't matter what you go by, there always seems to be exceptions to the rules especially when it comes to sexing chicks.

[Scarlet]

I've said this a million times but when my kids were little they used to do the paper airplane trick. Fly one over their heads, boys look up and the girls duck.

[Guest]

I like sexing ducks they are so much easier. The boys sing when they are little and sound pathetic when they are older, girls make a definite sound when little and older like honking etc (depends on breed)

Chickens however.....
I have heard people dangling them if they flap and fuss they are boys (fail for me)
Boys crow (again I have heard a couple of girls crow although it was only short term)
Dots on heads for some breeds, eyeliner marks, darker marks, autosexing etc. (unless these things were strong down the blood line help but are my no means a definite)

Best indicater - lays an egg

[Zelenina]

Hard to tell at that age, but in my experience the cockerels usually grow their combs faster than the pullets. So I guess the two in the second picture with small neat combs are pullets. The one on the left in the first picture has a stronger comb so I guess a cockerel. The other one in that pic looks kind of intermediate, so maybe either. It might be easier to compare if it was together with the smaller combed ones.

But are you sure they are Rhode Island Reds? They should have plain dark red feathers, which one of them has I think, though it's not very clear, but the feathers on the back chick in the second photo are light brown with white and black markings.

[Snadger]

Boys usually have longer legs............the relevant word is usually!

[elizajay]

Boys usually have longer legs............the relevant word is usually!

And thicker

[Scarlet]

And thicker

Yes, they are usually thicker. Generally there are several things to look out for. Legs - thicker, longer. The body stance, boys stand proud (neck up) and have a high chest, the girls look more rounded, boys headgear can be bigger but it's not always the case
Girls seem to feather up quicker. The boys are brave, girls are timid.
It's always sad that the one that was cheeky, becomes your best friend, hop on your lap and feed out of your hand is the one you have to cull as you haven't got room for him

[kathyd]

# but a rule of thumb is you always get more boys than girls
One hatch of mine was 8/1

omg! And I thought I was hard done by with one girl and 5 boys! Lol

[kathyd]

It's always sad that the one that was cheeky, becomes your best friend, hop on your lap and feed out of your hand is the one you have to cull as you haven't got room for him

And what's wrong with culling the miserable sod who avoids you like the plague and attacks his bros??

[Scarlet]

That one is always easy Kathy, they generally taste better too

[Bill HH]

Just a bit of info, Rhodes crossed with sussex are sex linked, that means all the cox are white and the pullets light brown. We used to pay dearly for japanese sexers to test our chicks, they had a 1% error rate, British sexers could only manage 5%. The ratio of cox to pullets seemed to be 50/50, maybe it was our strain. or more likely efficient careful temperature control of the incubators. I know in crocodiles one degree difference in the temperature can seriously affect the male/female ratio.

[jessmorris]

you can sex them at 1 to 3 days old by looking at the tips of the primary wing feathers, the first ones to grow. girls grow straight across making a blunt tip, boys are diff lengths making a point. I've never found it very clear though. boys take longer to grow feathers on their backs than girls who feather up all over while boys still hv a line of down on their backs. boys are bigger with bigger legs and their faces are more masculine (don't ask me to explain this!). I use the back feathers guide, its pretty good.