How to sex chickens
Every backyard chicken owner, whether experienced or an absolute beginner, struggles with sexing chickens accurately. However, being intuitive and keen on looking for signs of maturity early on can definitely help with aiding on how to sex chickens.
I’d like to clarify what “sexing” a chicken is. To sex any animal is too determine their gender.
Are they male or female?
When it comes to chickens, this is easier said than done. With that being said, let’s dive into some key signs that will help you find out if you have hens or roosters in your chicken flock!
Chicken terminology
When researching you’ll often see the words cockerel and pullet when referring to younger chickens.
To clarify, a cockerel is a male chicken under the age of one and subsequently, a pullet is a female under the age of one. After a year they become a rooster or hen.
When you buy chicks you may encounter that the batch of chicks are labeled as straight run….. What does this mean?
Straight run essentially means that there is a 50/50 chance that the chicks you purchase will be cockerels or pullets.
I personally only like to keep less than a dozen chickens at a single time, so for me I prefer to pay a little extra to purchase sexed chickens.
One other thing to keep in mind is that even though a group of chicks are labeled pullets it doesn’t mean that you will not end up with a rooster in the end. Even the most skilled chicken handlers in hatcheries have a level of error when vent sexing their chicks.
Vent sexing should only be done by professionals as it can be dangerous and harmful to the chick if done incorrectly.
This year I purchased 9 sexed chicks and 3 straight run and out of my straight run hatchlings I ended up with only one cockerel. Pretty good right?
When you can start sexing
If you have access to the chicks within the first day or two you can sometimes tell by their wing feathers. Gently fan out the chick’s feathers and look at the longer underdeveloped feathers. Females will have a double feather whereas, males will have a long singular shafted feather.
This isn’t full proof but I’ve had very good luck with sexing this way earlier on.
After this two day window you really are stuck waiting until your chicks are 2-3 months old. This is when they start to mature and get all their adult feathers. Besides practicing vent sexing, this is the earliest ways you can learn how to sex chickens.
Signs you have a cockerel
When your chick gets all their adult feathers around 8 weeks, you’ll be able to see signs that point to you having a little rooster.
Early signs to look for is posture. Cockerels from the beginning tend to stand up taller, whereas pullets slouch and a have a roosting posture.
Second is the brightness of the comb. This early on you may not notice a waddle or a prominent comb on a cockerel. However, a male bird in general will have a more colorful, brighter red color.
Another easy sign is watching the pattern of how the feathers grow and their length. Around the neck, cockerels will have developed longer feathers. The shape of the feather is skinny and elongated, where a pullet will have rounder, wider feathers.
Most importantly, the easiest way I can tell is by the saddle feathers.
Saddle feathers are feathers on the lower back. In roosters this large patch of saddle feathers lays on the back and they fall to the side of the tail. Hens will generally have wider, more uniform feathers laying evenly on the back.
A large beautiful tail is a wonderful sign that you have a rooster, however, this pretty tail doesn’t come until a little later.
Lastly, roosters have large spurs located on their legs. These spurs can potentially be dangerous if you have an angry rooster. I wouldn’t consider this too much of a sign to look for early on since can hens can have a smaller version.
The most sure way to tell if you have a pullet or a cockerel is when you see a pullet lay and egg and a cockerel crow. Those will be your definite way to determine gender.
Overview
As a new chicken owner, I encourage you to purchase pullets right from the beginning. Getting a flock of hens will save you a lot of time in raising up babies so they will produce yummy eggs.
Depending on where you live or what your chicken set up is, you’ll want to decide if owning a rooster is worth it to you. When keeping roosters, you’ll want to make sure you have enough hens per rooster. You are not in city limits and are prepared to listen to loud crowing. Then lastly if you’re prepared to potentially have an angry bird.
In the meantime, enjoy raising up those feathery babies and look out for signs so that you can pick up skills on how to sex chickens.
