Sexing Chicks...
Read the article this discussion is about
- Leghorn
- Jojo
- muscovy
- petnanny
- samantha01
- cvscuba
- cvscuba
- tsb51
- haltomgurl2004
- jasmine47
This archived discussion is "read only".
For the corresponding "live" discussions, post in the active topic forum here.
« Previous 1 2 Next »
» Leghorn - Chickens
Dirtlover...The answer to your question about Rhode Island Reds being game chickens is no..They are considered to be a "dual breed" This means that they are not the best layers or the best meat birds but lay better than meat birds (such as your cornish-rock crosses) and are better suited for meat birds than conventional laying breeds (such as your leghorns)
Your game chickens are the wilder breeds of chickens. This is the typical bird that is used for the "cock fights". The roosters are usually characterized by the variety colors..most being down right beautiful.
As for the type that is most gentle, that is a touchy subject.. Personally, stay away from the leghorns, the roosters seem to be down right mean.. The most gentle of the breeds I have, are the Rhode Island Reds.. This maybe influenced by the fact that i have had them since the 1st day they hatched and have spent alot of time with them. I have now around 50 reds...I can walk out towards them and they will run up to me and I even have a hen that will fly up and sit on my shoulder...As for the roosters, there are 6 of them and none of them has ever attacked me..To me the Rhode Island Reds seemed to be a social bird.
I have Plymouth Rocks (hens and roosters) and they are not mean, but are skiddish.. I have Old English Game Cocks and they are down right mean..
The Australorps are skiddish to a degree around people...the Araucanas I have are more on the wild side...Sooo...as you can see from what I have written, I would suggest the Rhode Island Reds for someone who is getting started with chickens.
The Rhode Island Reds will give you a beautiful looking flock, they are docile, friendly, not skiddish and lay nice brown eggs..
As a matter of fact, my Reds have a lay rate of roughly 87%...not bad since from what I have read and learned from the poultry extension specialist for Texas is supposedly 66%
In closing, really all the different breeds offer you something that will cause everyone to have their own opinion as to which is the best to start with..all I can do is offer my opinion and wish you the best and to welcome you to the "wonderful world of chickens"... If I can be of any help, email me and I will try to help or atleast point you in the right direction.
...STEVE
-- posted by Leghorn
» Jojo - yes we have no roosters
starting with just a small amount of chickens, handling them alot (I try to pick up all of my hens a few times a week to inspect them anyway) and just being around throwing food for them will go a long way even for subsequent chicken generations, even if the new chickens are not born and bred on site. There is no need to have a rooster, especially in a small flock, and it's usually the roosters that do the attacking. I have never had a rooster I could trust around strangers. All this said I once had two wyondotte roosters. They were diametric opposites in many ways, one being obviously the more dominant of the two. Unfortunately I offed the wrong one, choosing amongst favourites for the wrong reasons, and ended up with a nice companionable rooster who was actually useless at his task! SO I had no more Wyondottes.Now I have 5 black Orpington hens who are lovely and very good layers during the winter months.
-- posted by Jojo
» petnanny - Do I have roosters or hens?
I went to a sale last weekend and bought what I thought was 4 hens. After the auction the guy that had them came up to me and asked "what are you going to do with all those roosters?"He said they are spring chickens and all roosters. It fooled more than me! They have no spurs and look just like hens, but rather large.
They aren't crowing and I think they are hens.
This is all new to me, as I am a city girl just moved into the country. I have searched and searched to see if all roosters have spurs and what age do they get them?
I sure can use some help from someone. Please email me as I may loose this place again.
Sandy in Topeka Kansas
-- posted by petnanny
» samantha01 - male or female?
Hi. I have one little chicken that is between one and two weeks old. This little guy is starting to get real feathers on his wings (about half of the wings have real feathers). The problem is I don't know if he is a he or if he is a she? Peepers (as I call it) is a Cornish Rock cross. Does anyone know an easy way to tell what sex it is? I'm no expert as I said I only have one chicken so it's got to be very simple. Thanks!-- posted by samantha01
» tsb51 - male or female
My husband and I are new to raising chickens. Two weeks ago we bought 6 sex linked chicks we can't tell which are pullets and which are cockerels they appear to have most of their feathers and are all white with small pink combs and no apparent wattles yet can anyone help. We also ended up with a Buffed Conch does anyone have information on this breed or how to sex them?-- posted by tsb51
» haltomgurl2004 - male and female chickens
hi! yes i got a chicken for easter its about a month old and was wondering how to tell the male for female?-- posted by haltomgurl2004
-- posted by jasmine47
« Previous 1 2 Next »
Please follow the guidelines set forth in the Suite101 Posting Etiquette when adding to the discussion.