Hens turned out to be roosters.. now what?

[Mandie]

I got six Rhode Island Red chicks the first week of April, and have since added an adult barred rock rooster to the flock.
The Chicks were supposed to be sexed, and "guaranteed" to be female. It has come to my attention ( perhaps a little later than it should have.. but hey I'm new at this! ) that four of them are not female at all.
Now I have an adult rooster, two females and four very aggressive males. ( Pullets? Cockerels? Forgive my inexperienced lingo )
I have read articles about roosters growing up together staying peaceful as they grow, but won't the adult rooster have a problem with these guys as they reach a certain age? Not to mention obviously my Rooster to Hen ratio is all wrong.. but I'm sort of at a loss of what is the best way to proceed from here. What would you do?

 

[mnferalkitty]

Are you positive they are roosters? Depending on how much space you have that many roosters in a small area could be a problem. If you don't want them put an ad on craigslist in the farm and garden section

 

[mkcolls]

from Ohio!

Could you go back to the "guarantor" to replace the cockerels with pullets? Four out of six is a really lousy percentage. One male may slip through, but not 4 of 6.

Can you post pictures for some verification?

 

[Mandie]

I'm NOT positive at all! It never occurred to me that they would be anything but what was promised. That is until they starting becoming very aggressive and i started noticing a difference in their combs and wattles. I will try to take some pictures of them as soon as they return to the coop tonight. They free range during the day. Also maybe I should mention there haven't been any eggs yet, although I'm not sure if they are still too young for that or not. They stay in a fairly small coop, since there are only 7 total I thought that would be best for keeping warmer in the winter.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I'm NOT positive at all! It never occurred to me that they would be anything but what was promised. That is until they starting becoming very aggressive and i started noticing a difference in their combs and wattles. I will try to take some pictures of them as soon as they return to the coop tonight. They free range during the day. Also maybe I should mention there haven't been any eggs yet, although I'm not sure if they are still too young for that or not. They stay in a fairly small coop, since there are only 7 total I thought that would be best for keeping warmer in the winter.

They probably are still young yet for laying, if you got them in April as "day old" chicks they would only be almost 5 months old. My girls are 14 & 16 weeks old and their combs and wattles are growing at different rates. I have 2 RIR's, same age, different size combs. My cockerel is 4 weeks older and I got him when he was 14 weeks old. He was twice their size and had inch long comb and wattles already. Try and get pics up, it will help us determine if they are pullets or not. Make sure to include the adult roo for comparison.

 

[cary 1973]

this really helped me keep sexing my girls

Q: How can I tell if my juvenile bird is a rooster?

A: Comb size and redness can be one indicator, but is not usually reliable. In fact, it's one of the worst indicators you can use, as comb size varies by breed and even individual. For instance, one of my hens has a larger comb than any of her sisters of the same breed, and a larger comb than any of my roosters, too.

When sexing most juveniles, the best, most fail-safe method is to look at the saddle feathers in front of the tail when the bird is about 3 months old. By that age, cockerels will have long and pointy saddle feathers, while a hen's will be rounded. This will indicate for sure whether you have a cockerel or a pullet in every breed but Silkies and Sebrights. You will also be able to see long, curving sickle feathers in the tail of the rooster as he gets a little older.

Crowing is a fairly good indicator, but isn't fail-safe, either. Plus, generally speaking, you will be able to tell by feathers much earlier since roosters don't usually begin to crow until they are 4 or 5 months old. However, we have had roosters wait until a little later, and begin a little sooner, too. Plus, hens will occasionally crow, so even crowing doesn't tell you for sure. To reiterate, the BEST way to tell for sure is by looking at physical characteristics that cannot be mistaken, so check feather shape when your birds are about 3 months old, as other indications are not reliable.

For sebrights, the cockerels are "hen-feathered," meaning the males have the same shape feathers as females. For sebrights, comb size and wattle size are about the only easy way to tell. (Campines are hen feathered in other countries, but not usually so in the US.)

Sexing juvenile silkies is complicated, because you can't easily see the shape of the feathers, the comb is often hidden under the crest, and wattles are not evident in most bearded silkies. Our experts vent sex (with 90% accuracy) when the babies are a day old, but for the rest of us--and even for silkie breeders--juvenile silkies are especially hard to sex. However, there are a few telltale signs that may help you discern what you have:

 

[donrae]

If you're just now thinking they're roosters, I'll bet they're pullets (young female chickens, young males are cockerels) getting ready to lay. A rooster at this age would have a comb almost as large as your adult, with long, shiney darker red feathers starting from the neck and base of the tail (hackle and saddle feathers, respectively). You should also be hearing crowing and seeing mating with your pullets. I'll bet the combs are just getting larger and redder as the girls are reaching sexual maturity. Plus, some hens get quite hormonal just before they start laying, with more noise and posturing with each other for dominance. I'll look foreward to seeing pics when you can get them.

Oh, and if they are free range you could be getting eggs in nests hidden wherever. They don't always know they're supposed to lay in a nest box and sometimes need to be confined to the coop for a few days until they get in the habit of laying where you want.

 

[Rhoise]

My RIR pullets have very large combs and wattles, a chicken person told me they were roos at 6 weeks so i bought 4 to replace them now i have too many chickens! they were all pullets(girls) notice the Barred Rock pullet behind her, they have much smaller combs as of yet, same age raised since day olds together

 

[Gofygure]

I noticed exaggerated combs and wattles when I had RIRs, too, so you may be in luck! My RIR cockerels started developing big red combs at three or four weeks old. They were very easy to sex. If you're only noticing them now they are likely female.

With that said, I gave up on Reds because the cockerels were the most vicious chickens I've ever raised, so don't be surprised if your Red girls are more aggressive. It should be less pronounced in the pullets, but it seems to be a common characteristic in some lines. Hopefully your girls will settle down some.

 

[cary 1973]

I also got my chicks the 1st week of April and both my leg horn girls have big old combs and and the cheak things. also that size one fell over to the left. we also have the same cat my zelda kitty looks like the one in the back ground