How do i tell a hen from a rooster as soon as they hatch?

Answer 1

You don't. There are very few people well trained enough to do this accurately and safely.

The process involves squeezing the vent of the chick just at the right pressure to invert the tiny cloaca. Too much pressure and permanent damage is done and the chick does not survive.

After years of breeding hundreds of chicks I will not do this and most certainly a novice breeder would be ill advised to make the attempt.

A better way to find out the gender of the bird is to wait a few weeks and watch for larger, brighter combs and wattles forming. Males will also show more precociousness than their sisters. A startled cockerel will chirp a warning and ofter stand his ground while the females will crouch silently or run to a corner sooner than the males.

Answer 2

It depends on the breed and your expertise, or the expertise of the supplier. Chickens can be sexed by careful manipulation and inspection of the vent as day-olds. But it is skilled work. Some breeds are auto-sexing - cocks and hens have different down colours at hatch. These 2 facts are why you can buy sexed day-old chicks. If you wait for obvious signs in a poult, the age they become sexable varies with breed as they grow differently, and it also depends on how familiar you are with them. Somewhere around 8-12 weeks you should be confident enough to be able to sex them.

Answer 3

One way to tell the difference between a hen and a rooster as soon as they hatch is to look at their wing feathers. Male chicks tend to have longer primary feathers than female chicks. Additionally, male chicks may have larger combs and wattles compared to female chicks.