How to Tell If a Chicken Is a Hen or a Rooster
It is virtually impossible for the backyard chicken owner to tell the gender of a young chick.
Commercial hatcheries have developed a method known as sex-linking that helps them determine males from females straight off the bat. This is done by mating a rooster with a hen of a different breed and coloring. The offspring of this union will have different-colored down, depending on whether it is a cockerel (male chick) or pullet (female chick).
For the amateur breeder, however, the best way is to observe your chicks closely for telltale signs of gender differences.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Behavior and Appearance
-
1
As with humans, male and female chickens demonstrate behavioral differences from a very early age.
Try startling your young chicks by making a sudden movement over their heads. Males usually stand upright and chirp, whereas the females hunker down and remain quiet.
-
2
Watch your chicks in action. In general, cockerels tend to be, well, cockier than pullets. They are more alert, noisier and maintain an erect posture. In fully grown hens and roosters, these behavioral differences become even more apparent.
-
-
3
After about a month, it is usually possible for the lay person to determine the gender of his chicks by looking for basic visual cues. Males have brighter-colored combs (the outgrowth on top of the head) than females. Their feathers come in more slowly and they often have more downy patches at five weeks of age than females.
In grown chickens these differences are more pronounced. Males are larger and more brightly colored, especially around the tail and neck.
-
4
Everyone has either heard---or heard about---the rooster that crows at dawn. This distinctive sound is made only by the male of the species. Hens certainly have their own calls, but the crow is unique to roosters.
-
5
Hens alone will lay eggs, so if you absolutely cannot determine the gender of your chickens any other way, just wait. Most hens start laying eggs at about four months of age. If you have a non-layer at five to six months of age, it most likely is a rooster.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Many people wonder whether chickens lay eggs if there is no rooster around. Indeed they do. The rooster is necessary only to fertilize the eggs.
