How do you tell the difference between hens and Cockerels?

Answer 1

we look at thier legs . check to see if they have lil knots on thier leg where .the spurs would be . Males have longer necks and are usually taller, and they have a sort of a thick part of skin where their spurs will grow as they age.

Answer 2

Roosters are more gregarious and outgoing. Depending on the breed, the rooster will have a more pronounced comb and wattle. Older roosters will develop spurs or a claw about two inches up the leg. Hens tend to be shy and afraid, the rooster will investigate possible dangers.

Answer 3

Sexing chicks is a difficult job to do well.

Vent sexing or identifying the sex of a day old chick by looking at its sexual organs is done by very well trained people. It takes a long time to learn how to identify the more than 15 different shapes of the cloaca. Chicks are often damaged or killed by squeezing them too hard when done by a novice handler. Feather sexing is based on feather characteristics that differ between male and female chicks.The feather appearances are determined by specially selected genetic traits called sex-link that must be present in the chick strain. Most breeds of chickens do not have these feather sexing characteristics and the feathering of both sexes appear identical. Day old birds sold at Hatcheries are sometimes offered with this genetic trait. The easiest method of sexing chickens by the novice small flock owner is to care for the birds until they begin showing the natural secondary characteristics of their gender. In males, the combs and wattles will become larger than those on females and the head will become more angular and masculine looking. The female will remain smaller than the male and is more refined or feminine looking. At about two months old and if the chickens are free range, tossing something over their heads will produce a noticeable reaction that will help. The hens will put their heads down and remain still, the roosters among the flock will look up and run around looking for the perceived danger.

Answer 4

A lot depends on the breed of the chicken, but there are some general rules.

• The hen's comb will remain smaller & pink longer than a rooster.
• If hen & rooster are of the same breed, the hen will be smaller.
• The hen will not feather out like the male. Even early on, the males will produce green feathers, cape and saddle feathers, and the lengthening of the tail feathers can begin early on.
• The voice - even before they are mature, some roosters will practice crowing.

Answer 5

Sometimes, it is very hard to tell the difference between a cockerel and a pullet (the correct term for a female chicken that hasn't reached maturity).

For all breeds, about 2-3 weeks along the wattles (red flaps of skin that hang down from beak & neck) and combs ( red spikey thing on top of chickens head ) should be much more pronounced and red in the cockerels. The pullets should have very small to non existant combs/wattles. The cockerels should also be noticably larger than the poullets at this stage.

Around 4 weeks, the cockerels will have grown saddle feathers (long feathers directly behind wings), and should also have very pronounced and long neck feathers. Also, the cockerels will begin to be showing normal Rooster behavior (sparring, fighting, pecking, mock crowing, and in generally making as much noise as posible).

Answer 6

You can only tell after it has hatched.