Trying to identify the roosters in 2 and 1/2 week old chicks (need to give some away)

[rt0026]

We have 13 buff orpington chicks that are about 2 and 1/2 weeks old. They are all supposed to be female, but I know they can't sex them to 100% accuracy. Love this site so not trying to blame it, but this site says Euless, tx does not have a limit on chickens. I double checked before ordering on the city website and there was no info about a limit. Then I find out there is no limit on chickens, but you can only have 4 animals total on your property. I am going to try to get away with 8-9 because how will they know unless someone tells on us and calls animal control.

Anyway, there are a few of our chicks that are bigger than the rest. Some are smaller and others are the smallest. It is safe to assume that the biggest ones of the 13 are probably roosters? There is a feed store near us that will take them and sell them and I plan on taking 4 of them today or tomorrow. None of them are sick...all run around and are healthy, even smallest ones

Thanks for your help

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Size difference is not a reliable indicator to go by --- at 2 1/2 weeks you'll be hard pressed to get an accurate "read" on gender unless you just have some very obvious cockerels that have sprouted considerable, pink combs. At 4-6 weeks you can post some photos of the birds and we can help you start to sort them out as at that point experienced eyes can start picking up on characteristics that are beginning to show - though it can often be closer to 8-10 weeks or longer for some reluctant to make themselves known chicks.

 

[donrae]

I would wait until they're about 6 weeks old.

First, most restrictions on animals are for animals above a certain age. Babies/litters/clutches are usually excluded until they're of "weaning" age.


Second, you said "take them to a feed store". In my mind, that says "give". My thought would be---I paid good money for those chicks. You don't know for sure if ANY are males at this point. Why would I give away a perfectly good pullet?

Raise them up to 6 weeks. At that point, you're not really going to have any die of failure to thrive type issues, whoever is left is going to be healthy. You'll be able to sex them, and if you have Oops cockerels at that point, you can take them to the feed store. If you have all pullets, advertise them for sale. I get about $8 each for 6 week old pullets, depending on breed, etc. Selling even 4 at that point will pay for some feed for the rest.

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!

Ditto the wait until 5-6 weeks, males should be glaringly clear at that point.

 

[Gurk]

Hello everyone. Very new here and just a hobby chicken owner. But I do have a question about is it is possible for to distinct features of 2 different roosters to come out in ONE hatched egg???

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Hello everyone. Very new here and just a hobby chicken owner. But I do have a question about is it is possible for to distinct features of 2 different roosters to come out in ONE hatched egg???

Welcome to BYC.
It would be best to go ahead and start a thread all of your own (use the "start new thread" button next to the "Post a reply" button) so that we don't hijack this thread and so folks can keep the conversation geared towards helping you with your question.
When you do you'll want to include information such as the breed of the hen involved and the breeds of the two roosters you are thinking you are seeing in the chick - and the characteristics you are assigning to each that you feel you see in the chick. The short answer is that only one rooster can fertilize a given egg so while you may be seeing characteristics of each it is not indicative that both fathered the chick - however, the characteristics you are seeing may well be able to be explained once we know what they are and what breeds are involved. It can also help to include photos of the birds in question - if for not other reason than we like to look at chickens around here, lol.