How do you SEX a chicken?

Answer 1

At 7 weeks it should be rather easy to tell. The roos should have nice red combs and waddles showing and be a lighter colour overall. Think houndstooth. The pullets will be much darker in colour as the white will be just small strips among a lot of black and most likely their combs will still be very small, perhaps even still more like ridges than a real comb and yellow.

Answer 2

By eight weeks the chick/pullet/cockerel should be showing good signs of gender.

Comb will be better developed than the hens in the same age range as will the wattles. The bird will be more aggressive and active than its female counterparts. By this age mock fighting will occur and it very well be more vocal. Cockrels are naturally more curious and will be quicker to investigate "dangerous" humans.

Answer 3

Sexing a chick is a difficult job to do well.

Feather sexing is based on feather characteristics that differ between male and female chicks.The feather appearances are determined by specially selected genetic traits that must be present in the chick strain you are looking at. Most breeds of chickens do not have these feather sexing characteristics and the feathering of both sexes appear identical.

Vent sexing or identifying the sex of a day old chick by looking at its sexual organs is done by very few, very well trained people. It takes a long time to learn how to identify the more than 15 different shapes.

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 sex. 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. Here are a few links about sexing chicks.

Answer 4

To determine the sex of a chicken, you can look at the size of their comb and wattles or examine their feathers and behaviors. Roosters typically have larger combs, wattles, spurs, and longer, pointed feathers compared to hens. Additionally, roosters tend to have a more upright and confident posture and may exhibit crowing behavior.

Answer 5

Here are a few links about sexing chicks.

http://msucares.com/poultry/management/poultry_sexing.html

http://www.oznet.k-state.edu/historicpublications/pubs/SB307.PDF