Newbie2chickens Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Hi, this is my first time doing this and having chickens. I have 7 chickens, all about 2 months old. But, what happens if I have more than 2 roosters! I'm not sure if I have roostrs at all yet, but there is an odd number of them and if i have more than 2 i don't know what to do! Most of them have 1 other of the same breed, so i have 2 RIR's, 2 Black Orpingtons, and 2 Amaraucanas. So I can compare most of them in size differences, waddle differences and comb differences. But I only have 1 barred rock because the other past away. How do I tell which is a rooster and which is a hen? What do I do if I have way more than 1? Please help me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 Some breeds sex late, particularly Orpingtons. We had a brother and sister at 20 weeks which became two brothers at 26 weeks. Leghorns can be sexed as early as 4 weeks, simply by the size of the comb. I seem to remember somewhere that hens ('pullets' up to laying) develop wing feathers before cockerels. The feathering on the hackles gives a cockerel away but the only way to be sure is when they crow. Problem is cockerels start fighting in sight of pullets at about 12 weeks, so you may have your hands full with mixed breeds. Cockerels are difficult to find homes for. You can only keep one and if you have potential noise issues with neighbours you may not be able to keep any. Problems with disposing of cockerels is why many people don't hatch. Statistically 50-55% will be cockerels and the remainder pullets but that's only an average. Our first hatch had 8 cockerels and one pullet. Our second had 12 pullets and two cockerels. Over 5 hatches it did average out. So you will be looking at an average of 4 cockerels, but you may have none and you may have 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie2chickens Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 That is helpful. But I can't help thinking, what if i do get 7 cockerels? That would be, bad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 10 minutes ago, Newbie2chickens said: That is helpful. But I can't help thinking, what if i do get 7 cockerels? That would be, bad... Honestly, that would have been something you should have considered before getting 7 unsexed chickens. Don’t mean to sound harsh, but it’s a bit late now. Contact the breeder you got the chickens from and see if they cab help out if you get too many cockerels. Post some pictures and we can hazard a guess on the sex of your chickens. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie2chickens Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 Just now, Cat tails said: Honestly, that would have been something you should have considered before getting 7 unsexed chickens. Don’t mean to sound harsh, but it’s a bit late now. Contact the breeder you got the chickens from and see if they cab help out if you get too many cockerels. I got them for my 13th birthday from our local farm store. I don't know if that makes a difference but.... I agree with you, we should have gotten sexed chicks. But it was a 1 time offer and no other option because they were 1 dollar a piece and my dad believes in animal abuse with shipping... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 Like I said, post some pictures and we’ll have an educated guess on their sex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie2chickens Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 My barred rock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie2chickens Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 one of the amaraucanas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie2chickens Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 these two are one of the RIR's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie2chickens Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 The other RIR one of the orpingtons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie2chickens Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 The other orpington the other amaraucana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie2chickens Posted July 21, 2020 Author Share Posted July 21, 2020 1 hour ago, Cat tails said: Like I said, post some pictures and we’ll have an educated guess on their sex. Can you guess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Your photos aren’t the clearest unfortunately. The orpingtons are very hard to see. None of the chickens scream out cockerel to me, but the first RIR is a bit suspicious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie2chickens Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 s aren't friendly and are too suspicious. They were the newest ones to my 7, so those were the best shots i could get. And I agree about the RIR. The RIR's and the barred rock are the friendliest so those were probably my best shots. Thank you! I know it's not for certain but this really reassures me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
