The easiest way to know what gender chickens are by the novice small flock owner is to care for the birds until they begin showing the natural secondary characteristics of their gender.
In males, the combs and wattles will become larger than those on females and the head will become more angular and masculine looking. Spurs will start to develop on the inside on the leg of the male. The female will remain smaller than the male and is more refined or feminine looking.
At about two months old and if the chickens are free range, tossing something over their heads.This often will produce a noticeable reaction that will help you. The hens will put their heads down and remain still, this is instinctive for hens,they "get small and stay still" the roosters among the flock will look up and run around looking for the perceived danger. They may also make cackling sounds as the reassure the hens that they are looking out for them.
The rooster is bigger has a larger tail, comb and wattle.
Also
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 a few, very well trained people. It takes a long time to learn how to identify the more than 15 different shapes. The novice or untrained poultry handler can seriously injure the chick by attempting to squeeze the vent open to look at something they don't recognize anyway.
The easiest method of sexing chickens by the novice (new) 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.
Day one if you are VERY EXPERIENCED. Most hatcheries have people on staff (usually Japanese based on the need for sexing in a country with limited space) that sex day old chicks. They squeeze the chick to release fecal material then flip it over, open the vent and look for a small lump to determine male or female.
They usually start trying around 3 months of age, though they sometimes start much earlier, even at a few days old. It takes several weeks, though, for them to get the hang of it.
Experts can tell when they are very young, but most of us have to wait till they are old enough to crow sometime after 3 months old. You can try some of the old fashioned ways when they are young but they are not 100% accurate. Hold chick in cup of hand and very gently lift up by the head with the forefinger and thumb of the other hand till feet are no longer resting on the cupped hand. Hens relax and comply, roosters fight.
While it may be difficult for some people to distinguish between a hen and rooster at an early stage in their life cycle, there are some certain ways to tell the difference. Roosters have a brighter comb at the top of their head. They also tend to have brighter feathers at an early age.
Hens lay eggs. Roosters crow and are a larger bird.
Cockerels will begin practice mating around 7 months old and be ready to mount in and around 8 months old depending on the breed of chicken you have.
Roosters have larger tail feathers and are usually a bit more colourful than hens.
Roosters tend to have larger combs, wattles and fancy tails. They crow, hens chirp. Hens tend to be smaller and duller, roosters are bright and cheerful. Hens lay eggs, roosters don't.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ircubXfYfdU&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBFwVa0qW74&feature=related
For adult chickens, roosters are generally a bit bigger, and have longer, showier tail feathers. You can also tell by behavior. Roosters will tend to be more commanding, and will usually avoid other roosters if they have enough space and there are enough hens, or else fight with them if the space is too small or there are not enough hens. They can also often be observed jumping on hens' backs to mate.
When you get your peeps, You can hold them around the neck/upper body loosely and the thighs/lower body. If they squirm around, that means they're roosters. I didn't think that this would work but in May, I recorded that I got 12 roosters and now in September, I recorded that I have 14 roosters so the trick must seem to work.
Actually it is the rooster that crows, the hens sometimes make attempts to mimic the rooster but it comes out as a cackle. The reason the rooster crows is to communicate. He will crow to announce to the world that he is on guard and watching over his flock, he crows to let his hens (and other roosters hens) where he is and how to find him. They crow to warn of danger when a predator is spotted. He will crow in response to a hen announcing she has laid an egg. They often crow just to tell the world they are doing what roosters do.
Yes and no. First off most will tell you it is best to have an odd number of roosters in a flock. Not an even number. Ducks & geese are messy birds. So they make dry bedding wet which chickens dislike. Hope this helps!
Yes, because we have about 1,000 roosters but Galic Roosters are the rarest and I will tell you this if you promise not to tell, go on PornTube.com
The size of the comb, and how feathered they are. Another way to tell is if they have spurs on the side of their feet. If they do have spurs then they are definatly roosters. Hnes do not have spurs. And if they do they won't get very big.
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The rooster is the defender of the flock. It is his job to warn and protect the hens and he will advance on any predator threatening the flocks safety. While he deals with the "threat" the hens have time to get away to safety and it is usually the rooster who does not survive. Without knowing where you live it is difficult to tell you what might be killing your roosters....It could be cats, dogs, weasels, fox, coyotes or any number of raptors like hawks or owls. It may even be your hungry next door neighbor. Have you been smelling BBQ lately?