With hatching season quickly approaching and already here for some, we can’t resist those fluffy little chicks! Of course vent sexing is the only way to know for sure if your chick is a hen or a rooster, it can be dangerous for the chick for this to be done by those who are inexperienced. There are a few other things you can pay attention to to get an idea of what your little chicks might be. You could always wait until your chicken lays an egg or starts to crow but what’s the fun in that!
Hatching your own eggs
🐾 Round Eggs only
There is an old wives tale that if you hatch only very round eggs they will all be hens, and if you hatch pointy eggs they will be roosters. Now I can’t tell you this is true and I have a hard time believing it, some hens only lay round eggs or only lay pointy eggs. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to only incubate your round eggs and save your pointy eggs to eat.
For these next two methods keep in mind the theory behind these is not altering the sex, that is determined when the egg is laid by the hen. But it is believed that rooster embryos cannot withstand colder temps therefore eggs that contain a rooster embryo just won’t develop. This will result in a decrease of your hatch rate which can be difficult for those of us who test fertility to 100% before offering hatching eggs to others but according to these theories will result in more hens.
🐾 Increasing or decreasing the temp
Some people believe that lowering the temp by half a degree than recommended will result in more hens and increasing the temp by half a degree will result in more roosters.
🐾 Storing your eggs in the fridge
Another method I have heard of is keeping your eggs in the fridge for 1 to 2 weeks before incubating will result in more hens.
I have yet to try these methods to prove one way or the other but if you have or do try this definitely let me know the outcome!
Chicks
Now that your chicks have hatched, let's discuss some more accurate ways to tell if your chicks are little hens or roosters. It’s best to be familiar with the breed of chicken you are raising, does your breed tend to have larger combs, different feather appearances,
Physical appearance is one of the best ways to tell as your chick grows
🐾 Feather growth and speed
It is said that chicks who are hens are faster to grow feathers, this can be useful in the first 48 hours. When you handle your chicks, spread out one wing and within the first couple days hens will have “paint brush” looking feathers started more so than the roosters will. Hens will also have 2 layers of feathers on their wing, the first layer will be longer and the first to start developing, then you may notice a shorter layer coming in over that. This can also vary among what breeds you have. In most breeds hens will also have two different lengths of feathers on their wings, like a "step down" section, while roosters will have feathers that go straight across.
🐾 Combs
Roosters will start to develop a more prominent comb earlier and their combs will also be darker pink. This will be much easier to tell by comparing each chick to each other
🐾 Saddle Feathers
As chicks get older their saddle feathers will start to develop, these are the feathers located where the back meets the base of the tail. Hens will have rounder saddle feathers and roosters will have a pointy, longer feathers
🐾 Posture and activity
Roosters will stand a bit taller and more upright compared to hens, they will appear to be more “on alert.” Roosters will also tend to jump around more, if you happen to notice a chick who seems to be all over the place in a very short period of time, “fighting” or chest bumping with others can be good indicators of a rooster
🐾 Crowing
Now we all know that roosters crow and this doesn’t usually happen until they are mature but, sometimes a young rooster will try to find his voice a little early.
🐾 Chicken Legs
By comparing the thickness of your chickens legs to each other, roosters will have thicker legs and may even start growing spurs on the back of each leg.
🐾 Scruff Test
When you hold a chick by its “scruff” as you would a cat (back of the neck) it is said that a hen will bring its feet up to its head to try to escape and a rooster will relax and straighten out. This method I have not tested myself and probably won’t, while scruffing cats is very effective. The thought of holding a delicate chick by its scruff just doesn’t sit well with me. I would much rather use a different method or just wait until the chick is older.
🐾 Laying On It’s Back
If you lay a chick on its back in the palm of your hand a rooster will struggle and right itself while a hen will continue to lay there. Again this one I have not tested, birds can't breathe very well when placed on their back, yes I know there are some chickens who love to be carried around like a baby and don’t mind being on their back. We actually had a very large Pekin duck who loved to be carried around like this while the others didn’t want to be touched at all.
🐾 Hat Tricks, Not Just For Hockey
Some people have noticed when a hat or an object is waved above the chicks then dropped, as if to simulate an attack from a predator above that hens will hunker down and hide while roosters will go into a protective mode and attack the hat or object. Does it work? I am not sure, some breeds are more curious than others and chicks will tend to stick together more than how adult chickens would react.
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