OMG! It's a Roo! How to Tell if You Have a Hen or a Rooster

Are you wondering if you have a rooster in your flock? If so, you're not alone. As baby chicks start to grow up, it's not uncommon to wonder about the sex of your chickens even if you chose from the pullet brooder at the store or ordered pullets directly from the hatchery. Here's my personal story with getting an accidental rooster and how you can tell what you've got one (or three) in your flock.

Are you wondering if you have a rooster in your flock? If so, you're not alone. Here's a guide to help you tell.
Roopert as a young rooster.


Accidentally Getting a Rooster


It all started when we were buying chicks from the local feed store. I was picking out two Buff Orpingtons. I had already put one in the box. I picked up the next and its wing was covered in poop. The salesperson apologized for the poop and suggested I pick another chick. The poop didn't bother me and it didn't concern me with baby chick health, so I'm not sure why I did this, but I put the poopy one back and grabbed a nice big healthy chick. I even remarked to the salesperson, "Wow! This one's really big!" He agreed and I left the store happy with my choices.

A couple of weeks later, I started to get suspicious. Kate, as the chick was called, was bigger than her counterparts and she developed her comb and wattles fast. They were much larger than everyone else's and they were redder.


I began to wonder if I was a statistical "victim" of a chick sexing mistake. 

One morning, my husband and I were in the garage putting the chicks out for the day and we both froze in place as we heard a faint but distinct "cock-a-doodle-doo." We stood still and waited to see if it would happen again. Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed. We had a Buff Orpington rooster!

A name change was definitely in order, so Kate became Roopert. He eventually fathered two more roosters and we've not been without a rooster in our flock since then.

Pin the image below to save this information for later. 

Are you wondering if you have a rooster in your flock? If so, you're not alone. Here's a guide to help you tell.

How to Tell a Rooster from a Hen

The best way to tell if you have a rooster or a hen is by watching your bird's behavior and body development. However, these signs are not 100% accurate.

  • Roosters will be larger than hens.
  • The combs and wattles on a rooster will be darker pink and they will grow faster and larger than a hen's combs and wattle. 
  • Roosters will be more bold and friendly early on while hens are less friendly. (This reverses with age.)
  • If you have more than one rooster, they may chest bump and challenge each other.
  • Hackle feathers (located on the neck) for roosters are longer, more pointed and narrow. A hen's hackle feathers are more rounded and oval-shaped. 
  • Roosters have long, skinny saddle feathers located where the back meets the tail. These start to develop around 12 weeks of age.
  • Roosters will start to crow around four months of age. 
  • Roosters will have thicker legs and may develop spurs early in their development.

The only way to be fully sure if you have a rooster is to see whether your bird eventually lays an egg or not. The reason for this is that rooster rules are made to be broken. Sometimes hens will have large combs and wattles. Sometimes they will crow. Hens can be extremely friendly. Hens will chest bump each other to establish the pecking order.

Are you wondering if you have a rooster in your flock? If so, you're not alone. Here's a guide to help you tell.
Roopert as a fully-grown rooster.


How Did I Get a Rooster?


If you incubate eggs at home, you're almost guaranteed to get a rooster. Statistics say that 50% of a clutch will be roosters.

Hatcheries are usually about 90% accurate with their sexing and some like Meyer Hatchery, guarantee 100% accuracy. Because hatcheries like return customers, your best bet is to order directly.

The feed store is where I ran into problems. This is not to say that buying chicks from a feed store is bad, it's just wise to be cautious. Here's why. The feed stores get all their chicks shipped from the hatchery. They are taken out of their containers and put into the store brooders. Hopefully into the right brooders with the right signs. Then people, like me, shop those brooders. Chicks are picked up and inspected during the buying process. Some are put into boxes to take home, others are put back into the brooders. If you have brooder of Buff Orpington pullets next to a brooder of straight run Buff Orpingtons, it's easy enough to set a chick or two back into the wrong brooder. There are lots of places for unintentional error at the feed store.

Are you wondering if you have a rooster in your flock? If so, you're not alone. Here's a guide to help you tell.
Two hens establishing a pecking order through chest-bumping and feather raising. 


Is There a Full-Proof Way to Know What I'm Getting?


Probably the best way to be guaranteed whether you're getting a hen or rooster is to buy sex-linked chickens. Sex-linked chickens are cross-bred, so at hatch, you can tell their sex by their coloring.

39 comments:

  1. I'm having fears that one of my new chicks might be a he instead of a she... Can't wait to read stories of your new roo!

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    1. I can't wait to see how your story ends up! My first indication was his comb and wattle. They got big and red pretty quickly. But, I knew for sure once he started crowing. What breed of rooster will you have if your fears come true?

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  2. I have my chickens ranging around my property. They are prolific and have produced 10 new chicks and looks like another hatch coming soon. How do I select hens and roosters to harvest when they are all relatively young? The major rooster is huge and kind of an icon but if advisable he can go into the pot as well. Do I concentrate on a certain hen to rooster ratio?

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  3. I was googling buff orpington rooster when I came across your blog. We have 5 week old chicks and are thinking we may have a buff orpington roo as well. Then I noticed you're from Cincinnati. Did you happen to get them from Mt. healthy Hatchery

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    1. Hi Nikki! That bunch came from Tractor Supply which got them from Mt. Healthy Hatchery. I got an earlier flock directly from Mt. Healthy Hatchery and they were all sexed properly.

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  4. Same thing happened to me! Thought we had three hens so I named them Lucy, Ethel and Mrs. Kravitz. Well it wasn't long before Mrs. Kravitz turned into Lenny Kravitz and we officially now have a Roo who is beginning to attack my husband and teenagers. Makes me sad, but I'm going to have to find Lenny Kravitz a new home. :(

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  5. Confused still, I have one that has red face and big and dominant.think it's a roo.

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    1. Sometimes it can be confusing to tell the difference, especially with hybrid chickens like Easter Eggers. Hang in there. It took us almost a year to tell with one of our chickens.

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  6. I have an 11 week old buff orpington named Cheerio and I am not sure whether it is a hen or a rooster. Her saddle feathers are stout and rounded, but her comb and wattles are much bigger than any of the other chickens' (though we do have multiple different breeds) The thing that stumps me is that she is so sweet and docile, and loves being pet and held. Is Cheerio a hen or a rooster???

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    1. I would give Cheerio (great name!) a bit more time to mature. The comb and wattles aren't always good indicators. In both my Mottled Javas and Buff Brahmas, I have birds that are hens but have very different combs and wattles. I was just observing that with my Javas this week. Time will be the difference with Cheerio. Hopefully, she'll lay an egg for you and clear up the issue. That should happen around 16 to 18 weeks or even older. Hope this helps!

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  7. I have 2 buff orpington hens so I thought. 1 has wattles and the other does not. Does that mean 1 is a rooster? I have a sex link and a barred rock that are the same age with the same size wattles. Could they all be roosters? Oh my!

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    1. I've found comb and wattle differences within the same sex, breed and age chickens. I currently have three Java hens. Two have prominent combs, the other barely has a comb. I had the same thing happen with two Brahma hens. If you didn't know better, you'd think one was a rooster and one was a hen. The most accurate way to tell is when the hens start laying around 16 to 18 weeks or more of age. Hope this helps!

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  8. I bought a pair of young chickens. They don’t leave each other’s side and are always together. Will a male and a female do that? As I still am not sure if they are male or female.

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    1. Congratulations on your new chickens! I don't think their behavior means they're male or female. I think it's more about providing comfort to each other. Chickens are social birds and like to be in groups. Since you've got two, they're keeping each other company. If you had more than two, you'd probably see them spread out and socialize with the others. Hope this helps!

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  9. Just bought 8 new chicks from our local feed store (we had previously bought 7 and they were all hens as expected). Outer new 8 has one that we arent even sure of the breed because it came out of a brooder with only one breed sign. We named her Ms. Frizzle but I'm almost positive she is really a he. They are still pretty young so it's a waiting game....

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  10. I have 3 chicks and one of them has a huge comb and waddles do you think I have a rooster they were all born on September 6th 2020.

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    1. I think it's probably too early to tell. I have seen difference in comb and wattle size even between the same sex of the same breed. I'd give it some time. Since they are fall chicks, it may take well into the winter or early spring.

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  11. One of my three chicks also has one tail feather that is longer than all of their feathers and the other chicks have rounded feathers, The one that has a bigger tail feather is an Easter Egger/Ameraucana and I was wondering if it may be a rooster?

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    1. Easter Eggers can be tricky since they are hybrids. You won't know for sure until you start hearing crowing and see if he/she is laying. But, in all honesty, I had your exact situation happen with one of my Easter Eggers. It turned out to be a rooster. What I was seeing grow longer on the tail were the main sickle feathers. Hope this helps!

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  12. Thank you it does, I figured out that I have 2 rooster, because I saw them crow, we are going to keep them both. 2 out of three of the chicks are roosters.

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    1. I'm glad you'll be keeping them. We got an accidental rooster once and he was wonderful. Since then, I have enjoyed keeping roosters in my flock. Have fun with them!

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  13. Have you ever heard that feeding kitchen scraps will cause them to lay fewer eggs vs feeding only their layer feed? Great blog by the way and thank you!

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    1. I think it's important to feed them both a good layer feed and kitchen scraps as a treat. The ratio of feed to scraps is 90 to 10. They layer feed is important because it's balanced nutrition for their exact needs. The scraps provide enrichment and entertainment, plus they're a great way to recycle leftovers. I hope this helps! I'm glad you enjoy the blog!

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. How do you know which chicken layer which egg?

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    1. That can be a bit difficult if you have lots of chickens that lay the same color egg. If you've just got one green egg layer or one dark brown egg layer, then it's easy to tell. I spend time with my chickens and start to know who lays what. Also, if you collect eggs in the morning and then find a few chickens in the nest boxes in the afternoon, you can start to narrow it down. It's a process of elimination.

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  16. I have six 8 week old buff orpingtons. One is easily twice the size of the others, and my friend (farm girl) says it's a roo. I can't have roos where we live (backyard chickens); do I wait for it to sound off to be certain? If it is a roo I'd like to get a re-homing plan in place ahead of time...

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    1. I would wait for a bit longer. Even crowing isn't the final verdict. While you're waiting, get some plans in place just in case. But don't be too hasty, many have rehomed at the first sound of rooster only to find out later that they gave away a wonderful laying hen.

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  17. I think I have three roos and three hens from Tractor Supply. Almost all of them seem a big aggressive for 6 weeks old. Maybe I'm not used to pecking order behavior. I don't know about keeping so many roos.... No blood yet.

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    1. Hi there! At 6 weeks, it's a little too early to know for sure what you've got. Around 3-months old roosters will develop saddle feathers just in front of the tail. Rooster feathers will be long and pointy where hens will have rounded saddle feathers. That's a safer bet for identification. Until then, what seems aggressive may just be them working out the pecking order. Hope this helps!

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  18. I have 4 chicks I got from Tractor Supply. They were to be sexed chicks and pullets and I found out 3 weeks after getting them they were not what they were marked as and I am not sure what I got yet but they are about 6 weeks old and 3 have rounded looking feathers all over on there wings and 1 has longer pointed feathers all over on wings what does this mean?

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    1. At six-weeks-old, it's just too early to tell. I would give them another month or so and then reassess the situation. Around 12-weeks-old, you should have a clear picture.

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  19. Hi Pam, I have 3 Buff Orps and 3 Lavender Orps. I am still learning about these wonderful birds. They are probably about 13 weeks at the most, 10 at the least. Yesterday I was noticing a tiny spot on their legs which I am assuming is a spur spot... Do your hens have this? I also am noticing that in the girls I thought were the oldest, they are just starting to get their waddles, but the one I thought was the youngest developed "hers" awhile ago. Is it common for this breed to develop waddles at different rates? My EEs don't have spurs or waddles, so this is all new to me. Would love to know your experience in Orpington development. Thanks! ~Ali

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    1. Hi Ali! Chickens are kind of like people, they all develop at different rates. I've seen this often, especially between the different breeds in my flock. None of my Orpingtons have had spurs, but many hens will grow spurs. They're often much smaller than a rooster's spurs. In fact, I have 3 Mottled Javas now. One has small spurs, the other two do not. All are the same age. I hope this helps!

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  20. I have 6 Rhode island reds and two blue rocks they are 7 weeks old one of the blue rocks has a red comb and is getting red wattle so am thinking it's a roo as the rest have yellow combs

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    1. It sounds like you have a wonderful flock! Comb size and redness can indicate you have a rooster, but it's not reliable and at 7-weeks old, your birds are just too young to tell. After 3 to 4 months of age, the saddle feathers are the best indicator of a hen or rooster. So, give it some more time and you'll be able to tell.

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  21. Hello, I have recently decided to add to my flock and am questioning the sex of my 5 week old supposed pullet. I went to my local tractor supply and picked up 3 Rhode Island reds, and 3 white leghorns. The reds are perfect and growing in sync while on the other hand one of my leghorns has taken off in growth. It has nearly an inch tall crown and wattle that are red, while the others just have their baby crowns. It also seems to be bullying the others, more than the pecking order, but not hurting them (I wouldn’t allow that). I’m looking for any insight. I have a photo but am not sure how to attach it. Thank you in advance.

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    1. Hi Deana! At five weeks, it's too early to tell what you've got. I'd keep watching the Leghorn and see how things progress. Around 3 to 4 months of age, you'll have better indicators like the saddle feathers at the base of the tail. Until then, growth patterns can be different for individual birds even of the same breed. Hope this helps!

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