Roo or Hen? Of sexing chicks

How do you sex chickens? Our babies are three weeks old now and I have the slight suspicion that we have two gals and two roos.

OH NO! Oh yeah ....

Here are some hints for sexing them:


He's a Roo

 #1: If you pick them up on their body with the feet dangling in the air, a hen-chick will be just hanging there while the dude will try to get away and be very noisy.

#2: Female chicks feather out sooner than their male buddies.

#3: With some breeds, watch a tail developping. Especially with the Sumatras, the boys have gorgeous tails.... I know, this sounds funny.

#4: General behaviour: Strutting around with a roo walk ... yeah, if it walks like a duck, ...

So, according to this. we should have:

• one Sumatra hen, who is all black, hence the name BLACK,
• one Sumatra boy, with splash coloring, he is called SPLASH,
• one Rhode Island Red girl, named SUNSHINE and
• one Rhode Island Red boy, named POPPY.

Let's see when the combs kick in, whether we diagnosed correctly.

Sexing all fowl, baby chicks, game birds, cage birds

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis