# HELP!! ROOS or HENS?



## Alicia Riethman (Jul 22, 2019)

HENS OR ROOS


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## Beekissed (Jul 22, 2019)

Alicia Riethman said:


> HENS OR ROOS



All the same age?  What age?  

At a glance I would guess male, male, hen, male.


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## AlleysChicks (Jul 22, 2019)

I agree, 3 cockerels and 1 pullet.


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## Alicia Riethman (Jul 22, 2019)

Beekissed said:


> All the same age?  What age?
> 
> At a glance I would guess male, male, hen, male.


8 weeks old


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## Alicia Riethman (Jul 22, 2019)

Beekissed said:


> All the same age?  What age?
> 
> At a glance I would guess male, male, hen, male.





Alicia Riethman said:


> 8 weeks old


so 2 on top males and bottom left female, bottom right male?


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## Beekissed (Jul 22, 2019)

Alicia Riethman said:


> so 2 on top males and bottom left female, bottom right male?



Yep.


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## Alicia Riethman (Jul 22, 2019)

Beekissed said:


> Yep.


what did you look at to determine male or female? sorry im new at this


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## Beekissed (Jul 22, 2019)

Alicia Riethman said:


> what did you look at to determine male or female? sorry im new at this



Comb color and size compared to the other bird of the same age...your little pullet has a small comb that's still yellow, whereas your cockerel's combs and wattles are larger and nicely red.  That's not always a complete indicator, depending upon the breed and how fast they mature.   The males also had the beginnings of little cock feathers in their tails...a little darker set of feathers that are starting to show curve.  I also saw a few saddle feathers in there...those are pointed feathers in the area right in front of the tail.  One of them even has a little green feather going on...when they all get bigger you'll really start to see these secondary characteristics showing up more strongly.  

They also tend to have larger bones than the females, so you can look at feet and legs compared to hers. 

If those are Speckled Sussex birds, your males will one day resemble this one....look at those shiny, pointed feathers on his saddle...you'll see the same kind around his neck~called hackle feathers, the curved darker feathers in the tail, etc.


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## Alicia Riethman (Jul 22, 2019)

thank you so much!! yes they are sussex chickens and we take them to fair on friday, yikes!!  Im not sure they will place because they are so small. Poor little ones are 8 weeks old and haven't grown much at all.


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## Beekissed (Jul 22, 2019)

Alicia Riethman said:


> thank you so much!! yes they are sussex chickens and we take them to fair on friday, yikes!!  Im not sure they will place because they are so small. Poor little ones are 8 weeks old and haven't grown much at all.



They aren't a very large breed, so they seem appropriately sized for the breed.  As long as they are healthy and perky acting, they should do fine.


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## AmberLops (Jul 22, 2019)

I agree...3 males and a female 
And welcome to BYH!!


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