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This article was co-written by Deanne Pawlisch, CVT, MA. Deanne Pawlisch is a Certified Veterinary Technician specializing in corporate veterinary training in Illinois. She has been a board member of the Veterinary and Urgent Care Foundation in San Tonio, Texas since 2011. She holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology from Northern Illinois University.
There are 8 references cited in this article that you can see at the bottom of the page.
This article has been viewed 94,674 times.
Knowing the sex of your chicks will help you create the best environment for them to grow up. However, sex determination of chicks is not a simple thing and you must consider many factors. When the chicks are newly hatched, you can observe whether their feather color is markedly different. After a few weeks, notice if some chicks seem significantly larger and more aggressive than others. If you can correctly identify more than 50% of the chicks, it is considered successful.
Steps
Check out the newly hatched chicks
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Observe the wing feathers. Although chicks are covered in down, they will have a few fringed feathers at the tips of their wings. To see the wing feathers, you need to hold the chick firmly in your hand, pulling the wing with the other hand so that the feathers are separate and easy to see. The wing feathers of the rooster are roughly the same length, while the wing feathers of the hen are of varying lengths.
- You can determine the sex of chickens by the feathers of their wings 1-2 days after hatching, and the results are usually pretty accurate. After this time, the wing feathers of the chicks will grow very quickly so it will be difficult to see. [1] X Research Source
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Observe the color of the fluff. Chicks are covered in soft fluff with small feathers until they are 6 weeks old. Roosters usually have light feathers on their heads, while hens’ feathers are usually dark brown. If the hen has spots or stripes, these are usually brown or black. In contrast, prominent markings on rooster feathers are usually white or yellow. [2] X Research Source
- For example, in the Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire breed, the rooster’s fluff is mostly yellow.
- Similarly, the Red Star breed has sex-linked genetics, so roosters and hens have different colors. Newly hatched roosters are buttery yellow, and hens are reddish yellow. [3] X Research Sources
- In some cases, you can determine the sex of a day-old chick by observing the color of the fluff.
- Some breeds of chicken have downy plumage that shows sexual characteristics. For example, hens of the Barred Plymouth Rock breed will have yellow spots on their heads.
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Observe the size. When the chicks are 3-4 weeks old, you will start to notice the difference between the rooster and the hen based on their size. Roosters have larger heads and bodies than hens. Hens are usually slightly smaller than roosters. [4] X Research Sources
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Try to determine the sex of chickens through the cloaca. A caveat: it’s best to hire a professional to perform this method. However, if you want to test it yourself, remember to do it gently. Hold the chick in your hand and gently press on its belly until the chick oozes feces. Observe the anal opening (now clean) of the chick. If you see a lump, it’s probably a rooster. If there are no lumps, it is a hen. [5] X Research Sources
- In some breeds of chickens, both cocks and hens have a series of small bead-like nodules in the anal opening. In this case, the rooster will have a larger and rounded “bead” in the middle. The hen’s “beads” are flatter. [6] X Research Sources
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Wait until the chicks are 6 weeks old. If you can wait until this time to sex the chicken then your chances of success will be slightly higher. Physical changes, such as the development of a carapace, will be more noticeable. Behavioral changes are also more pronounced and consistent, such as the chicken’s reaction to a startle. [7] X Research Sources
- Also, if you wait a few more months the rooster will usually start to crow.
Observe the larger chicks and broilers
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Monitor the development of the crest when the chicken is 6 weeks old. By this time, the rooster has a fully developed crest (the fleshy part develops on the chicken’s face). The cock’s crest grows just above the chicken’s head, and the cock’s crest will turn bright red. On the contrary, the hen’s facial skin remains yellow and does not grow taller.
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Observe the feathers when the chicks are 8-10 weeks old. Hold the chicken firmly in your hand and look at the intersection of the back and tail. This is where the quills grow. You will see that the roosters have sharp, jagged feathers, while the hens’ feathers are rounder and softer. [8] X Research Sources
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Pay attention to the temperament of the chicken. As you watch chicks communicate with each other, notice which chicks tend to be dominant or submissive. Roosters are less shy and often bully other chicks of the same litter. Hens are more easily startled by loud noises and often react frozen when scared. [9] X Research Source
- Another way to observe the “fight or flight” response is to approach the chicks and clap your hands. Roosters will chirp warningly, while hens are usually silent.
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Look at the meat bibs in adult chickens. The bib is the skin that hangs below the beak area. As chickens mature, their fleshy bibs will also increase in size. However, the rooster’s pelt will turn more vibrant, usually red, while the hen’s pelt will remain yellow, white, or gray. [10] X Research Source
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Note the phenomenon of egg laying when observing adult chickens. If the hen lays an egg then it is clearly an adult hen. Chickens usually lay eggs at 12-30 weeks of age. Roosters don’t lay eggs, but they can start to crow loudly as they reach this age. [11] X Research Source
Consider other methods for sex determination of chickens
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Use laser spectroscopy for commercial purposes. This is a new technique, in which people use a small laser to shine inside the egg after 3 days of incubation. Technicians will use the egg’s DNA to determine the sex of the chicks that will hatch. [12] X Research Source
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Select chicken breeds with sex-linked genetic traits. These breeds of chickens have feather color indicating sex right from the moment they hatch. This means you can know the sex of the chicken almost instantly with great accuracy. For example, the Red Star is a breed of chicken with sex-linked genetics. The rooster has pale yellow feathers, while the hen’s feathers are reddish yellow. [13] X Research Source
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Hire an expert. Ask local breeders or other breeders to recommend a “chicken sex determination specialist”. These specialists usually have extensive experience in sex determination of chickens and come to the site to do this work. They will charge a flat fee based on the number of correctly sexed chickens. [14] X Research Source
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Do not rely on the shape of the egg to guess the sex of the chick. Many people say that pointy eggs hatch into roosters, and round eggs hatch into hens. This concept holds that just by looking at the shape of the egg, you can tell the sex of the chick. However, this method proved unreliable and the accuracy was no better than conjecture. [15] X Research Source
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Choose a method with more than 50% accuracy. If you choose the sex of the chick by guesswork, your odds of guessing correctly will be about half. So, if you want to be successful in determining the sex of your chicks, you need to choose a method that has an accuracy rate of more than 50%. You weigh methods, guesswork, and end results to find out which works best. [16] X Research Source
Advice
- Be patient when choosing the best sex determination methods for you and your flock. Remember that no method is 100% accurate.
Warning
- Before you begin sexing your chickens, you should think carefully about what you will do with your roosters if you don’t plan to keep them.
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This article was co-written by Deanne Pawlisch, CVT, MA. Deanne Pawlisch is a Certified Veterinary Technician specializing in corporate veterinary training in Illinois. She has been a board member of the Veterinary and Urgent Care Foundation in San Tonio, Texas since 2011. She holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology from Northern Illinois University.
There are 8 references cited in this article that you can see at the bottom of the page.
This article has been viewed 94,674 times.
Knowing the sex of your chicks will help you create the best environment for them to grow up. However, sex determination of chicks is not a simple thing and you must consider many factors. When the chicks are newly hatched, you can observe whether their feather color is markedly different. After a few weeks, notice if some chicks seem significantly larger and more aggressive than others. If you can correctly identify more than 50% of the chicks, it is considered successful.
Thank you for reading this post How to Identify a Rooster or a Hen at Lassho.edu.vn You can comment, see more related articles below and hope to help you with interesting information.
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