Pic: Rhode island red roosterI got this question from a posting I did in February.
"How can you tell roosters from hens? I was under the impression we just had to wait a few months and then we will know. We just bought 20 chicks last week, is there a way to tell right off? Or do you buy them already sexed?"
If you're producing chickens for your own use, the roosters are what you'll probably end up eating. 50% of the chicks that hatch will be roosters, and you only need a rooster for every 5 or 10 hens for fertile eggs, but you'll want two or three roosters. Roosters will put themselves between the flock and predators, and they tend to get killed more frequently if you have predators. They also turn up infertile. So if you're counting on your flock to breed its own replacements, make sure you've got a backup.
If you're selling chicks, you'll probably find that you can get a better price if you can sex your chickens and sell hens to the folks who can't have roosters. Around here, locally produced straight-run chicks are $2-3, where hens will sell for a dollar more, and roosters 50 cents less. That's day old chicks.
For my own operation, I make a market in meat birds for folks who really want an authentic Coq Au Vin or other dish that wants a true heritage bird, and to the local ethnic community that prefers a non-cornish cross bird to eat. By the way, this coq au vin recipe is pretty darned tasty. I highly recommend it.
So I don't sex the chickens that I hatch at all. I raise them all identically, and at about 6 weeks of age I can sort through the chickens by sex characteristics if I have a customer who wants hens specifically.
The chicks that I order I usually order sexed to ensure that I get the mix I'd like. I raise a batch of black australorp roosters every year for chinese customers who prefer a solid black bird to eat. White birds are apparently not as tasty. Personally if I was limited to one breed of chicken, I'd probably pick the barred plymouth rock. Good size chicken carcass, good egg layer, calm disposition. If I were to pick an egg laying breed I have to pick the white leghorn. You cannot get more eggs from a chicken than that bird produces.
"How can you tell roosters from hens? I was under the impression we just had to wait a few months and then we will know. We just bought 20 chicks last week, is there a way to tell right off? Or do you buy them already sexed?"
If you're producing chickens for your own use, the roosters are what you'll probably end up eating. 50% of the chicks that hatch will be roosters, and you only need a rooster for every 5 or 10 hens for fertile eggs, but you'll want two or three roosters. Roosters will put themselves between the flock and predators, and they tend to get killed more frequently if you have predators. They also turn up infertile. So if you're counting on your flock to breed its own replacements, make sure you've got a backup.
If you're selling chicks, you'll probably find that you can get a better price if you can sex your chickens and sell hens to the folks who can't have roosters. Around here, locally produced straight-run chicks are $2-3, where hens will sell for a dollar more, and roosters 50 cents less. That's day old chicks.
For my own operation, I make a market in meat birds for folks who really want an authentic Coq Au Vin or other dish that wants a true heritage bird, and to the local ethnic community that prefers a non-cornish cross bird to eat. By the way, this coq au vin recipe is pretty darned tasty. I highly recommend it.
So I don't sex the chickens that I hatch at all. I raise them all identically, and at about 6 weeks of age I can sort through the chickens by sex characteristics if I have a customer who wants hens specifically.
The chicks that I order I usually order sexed to ensure that I get the mix I'd like. I raise a batch of black australorp roosters every year for chinese customers who prefer a solid black bird to eat. White birds are apparently not as tasty. Personally if I was limited to one breed of chicken, I'd probably pick the barred plymouth rock. Good size chicken carcass, good egg layer, calm disposition. If I were to pick an egg laying breed I have to pick the white leghorn. You cannot get more eggs from a chicken than that bird produces.
Pic: Black australorp henYou can produce chickens that are easier to sex by doing hybrids, which have different feather patterns based on the sex of the chick (colors of feathers, number of feathers in the tip of the wing, etc) or by vent sexing the chick. You'll find a brief description of both methods here.
pic: Delaware hen
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