One of the first questions people will ask when it comes to chickens is: “Is that a hen or rooster?” Or as some people put it: “is that a chicken or a rooster?” Sometimes it’s easy to tell the difference as the roosters strut across the yard and crow. But other times, especially when chickens are young, it’s more difficult.
Today, I’ll show you how to sex a chicken, including the few ways you can tell hens and roosters apart.
Hens and Roosters | Cockerels and Pullets
First, let’s address “chicken vs rooster.”
Roosters are chickens too, so that question won’t help much. Most people mean “hen” when they say “chicken.” Hen means a female. Rooster means male.
Now let’s go a little more detailed and look at the difference between hens and roosters, cockerels and pullets.
A male chicken is considered a cockerel before one year of age. After one year, he is considered a rooster.
A female chicken is considered a pullet before one year of age. After one year, she is considered a hen.
Jill is one of our pullets. She is a bantam (small) black cochin.
And here is Jack, her cockerel brother. He is also a bantam black cochin.
Now, the next time you hear someone talking about pullets, you know they mean young female chickens!
How to Sex a Chicken
Sexing Chicks
It’s difficult for the average person to determine the gender (otherwise known as sexing) of a young chick. In most cases, even experienced chicken owners will not be able to tell whether they have cockerels or pullets until the chicks are least 2-3 months of age, often longer for some breeds like Silkies.
These are two of our silkie hens with their young chicks.
The most common form of sexing is called “vent sexing,” but if not done correctly, it could kill a chick. And even then, the odds are about as good as a coin toss when it comes to accuracy with this method unless it is someone very experienced. This is why the average backyard chicken keeper should not attempt this, I have not and will not, and neither should you.
In fact, typically the only places you can buy “vent sexed” chicks are from hatcheries where they have highly trained personnel to do it. Even then hatcheries are only accurate about 90% of the time. This means that if you order female chicks from a hatchery or your local feed store (they usually buy from hatcheries too), you still have a chance of ending up with one cockerel (or more.)
Here is a great article that talks about sexing baby chicks.
If you buy chicks from a local chicken breeder, they will likely sell you “straight run” chicks.
Straight run means the gender is unknown and chicks are not sexed (again because it’s nearly impossible) and your odds of having boys or girls are usually 50/50.
We had no idea what gender these chicks were when we got them, but there were 2 boys and 3 girls. Would you believe the fluffy yellow chick on the right grew up to be our giant boy, Smokey (see his photo farther below)?!
There are some crossbreeds, known as sex links, and a few other chicken breeds where you can tell the gender right away based on their colors. You can read more about sex links here. That being said, you cannot tell the gender with the majority of chicken breeds.
Pullet or Cockerel?
We all wait anxiously to see if our chicks are boys or girls. We can guess all we’d like, but as many people who raise chickens like to say, you won’t know for sure until they crow or lay an egg!
That can be anywhere from 12-30 weeks of age! Occasionally though you might have a little cockerel who makes himself known by crowing very early. We had a young Silkie start crowing at just 6 weeks of age!
Still, it’s fun to guess and see if you’re right late.
For older chickens, typically 3-6 months of age, there are a few characteristics you can look for.
Comb and Wattles: Size and Color
The comb is the “crest” on top of a rooster or hen’s head. As chickens begin to mature, their comb will grow larger and darken or brighten in color. Cockerels usually have larger brighter combs than hens.
It’s the same thing with a chicken’s wattles – the fleshy skin that hangs from underneath the beak/neck. Males have brighter larger wattles than females.
This is Wolf, our Light Brahma cockerel, when he was very young. You can see his comb and wattles beginning to get bigger and brighten.
Here’s a photo I took of Wolf today. See how his comb and wattles are bigger now? Wolf is still considered a cockerel because he is 7 months old.
On the other hand, here is “Fireball”, our Light Brahma pullet. She is also 7 months old. Do you see the difference?
Fireball and Wolf belong to my oldest, Nathan. He named them after Minecraft. 🙂
Sometimes you will see a young chick begin to develop a larger comb earlier than the others and this is sometimes (not always) a clue as to its gender – more likely a male.
Feathers
Hackle feathers are another word for neck feathers. A hen’s neck or hackle feathers will be rounder and shorter while a rooster’s hackle feathers are longer and more pointy.
You can see Fireball’s hackle feathers here:
Saddle feathers are only found on the boys. These feathers grow on their back down toward their tail. They become fairly obvious once a cockerel is older.
One way to remember the difference between hackle and saddle feathers is to think of a horse saddle which goes on a horse’s back, not the neck.
Lastly, look at a chicken’s tail feathers. A cockerel or rooster’s feathers will be longer, more flowing, and generally showier. Sometimes there will be more colors, such as shiny green feathers.
Here is Wolf again. Notice the differences between him and Fireball.
More Ways to Tell Hens and Roosters Apart:
Behavior – roosters are often bolder than hens. You might notice this behavior in small chicks. As they get older, roosters will tend to “challenge” each other with raised hackle feathers.
But this behavior isn’t exclusive to the boys; even the girls “challenge” on occasion! Of course, there are exceptions too; we’ve had shy roosters and braver hens.
Posture – cockerels tend to puff out their chest and stand taller than pullets.
This is Smokey, our sweet barnyard mix (that means mixed breed) cockerel:
Leg Size – boys will have thicker legs than girls.
For me, this is one of the last things I consider when telling hens and roosters apart, but it is one more characteristic you might notice.
Spurs – some, not all, cockerels will develop spurs on their legs, a bony growth that grows from the inside of their legs. Spurs can be used as a defense and can be dangerous if you have an aggressive rooster. Luckily there are ways to safely remove spurs without injuring the roo.
This is Hairy Potter, my son’s Silkie rooster. He does not have spurs. (Not that you can tell under all his fluff!)
Overall, remember there’s no guaranteed way to tell the difference between hens and roosters until they are crowing or laying eggs. But these are some fun clues to consider as your chicks grow bigger and it’s always fun to play the guessing game!
Scarlet Paolicchi says
I loved looking at your chickens. My grandmother always raised chickens and it makes me miss her fondly whenever I see chickens.
Erika says
Chickens are wonderful animals!
Nicole says
Your chickens are so pretty!
Cove says
HI. How old is Wolf in the first photo of him, when he was younger?
Erika says
He was about 3 1/2 months old then.
Dawn Mayhew says
We just got our very first ever batch of chicks! Our HOA does not allow roosters so I am anxious to find out which ones are roosters before I fall in love with them all. On that note, have you heard of rooster collars or anti-crow collars ? Are they humane?
Anastasia says
This was very helpful! My chicks are 8 weeks old and I’m anxious to find out if any or roosters because it’s against city ordinances for us to have any males. Thank you for the post!
Erika says
Fingers crossed you have hens!
James says
Hey Ericka,
Thanks for this, my wife and I have a small 20 acre property in Victoria, Australia. We have chickens and are trying to tell them apart at the moment. I am pretty sure we have four roosters and one hen! Gonna test your theories tomorrow and see if I can better identify them.
Julie says
Your chickens are beautiful! We have several different breeds. Most are hens and as our luck would have it…our rooster is a jersey giant. Is there a way to safely and completely remove spurs? I have 2 small children and I’m so afraid they will get hurt.
Thank you!
Cheryl Jolly says
I’ve been hatching chicks for a few years now and I have noticed that cockerals talk when they eat. I’ve had only one or two pullets do it but for me it’s rare. It doesn’t matter the breed. So next time you’re day old chicks are eating, listen to them!
Ashley Furin says
Great post! Very helpful! I read a few other posts in the search results and yours was the most informative and helpful by a landslide! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge!
Erika says
You’re welcome, Ashley! Hope your chickens are well. 🙂
Stacy says
I have two silkies I’m still trying to figure out what they are. I want eggs so I’m hoping for a girl(pullet).
I think I have one of each but not 100% sure yet. I bought them from a farm in Ca. I bought ducklings and they sent me my ducklings and chickens. They are black and finally looking pretty . I’ve been reading up on chickens . I have pictures.
Erika says
Silkies are harder to tell apart and you may have to wait until they are around 6 months to know for sure. Yes, it’s a long time! (I have several juvenile silkies at the moment and it’s still TBD on their gender!)
Ashley says
We are having the hardest time sexing our chickens. I’ve read lots of articles, and yours was the most helpful with pictures! But I’m still getting mixed signs. I’m hoping you can help…
Mixed breed, approximately 4-5 months
Comb, growing but still against their head. More like a large bump right now.
Wattle, non existent. Not even seeing some redness, let alone bags.
Feathers (saddle and hackle), longer and thinner than our other chickens (much like hair). But the others are a different breed so I’m trying not to compare.
Spur, nothing yet.
Crowing, one has began to crow. Not every day but definitely happening. When my boyfriend goes out to shush it, it runs and quiets down. The other one in question makes no noise at all.
Behavior, no aggression at all.
Can you help at all? Thanks!
Erika says
The one that crows is almost certainly a rooster. I’m not sure about the others. If you want to email me a picture at erika(at)livingwellmom(dot)com, I can try to guess.
Ashley M Snyder says
I need help sexing my chicken. Is this something you could do via email or do you have a suggestion of where I could take her (or him I supposed).
Erika says
Hi Ashley, no one can 100% guarantee the sex of your young chicken (unless you have a sex link). I would read the tips in this article and give it your best guess than wait and see if you are right. Good luck!
Annette Buggey Hammel says
Hi Erica you sound super knowledgeable in chickens.. I have two 10 week old and two 3 week olds.. I have pics but have no idea how to attach .. my ten week olds are golden spangled Hamburgh and light Brahma which I was told was a Cochin .. and my three week olds are Americanna and buff Orpington. Because my Hamburgh had all these weird rogue feathers at first I thought she was a he.. but now not sure because none of my babies have any wattles to mention of except my buff Orpington that is only 3 weeks old .. Do buff orps show wattles early??
Erika says
Hi Annette, I don’t believe buff orpingtons get their wattles any earlier than any other breed. I have a couple buff hens and their wattles appeared along with other breeds their age. If you want to send me pictures, you can email me at erika@livingwellmom.com. Hope that helps!
Simon says
Hi Erika,
Really interesting piece, and I love the mix of your chickens 🙂
I have 2 Brahma chickens. One black, and one white. I got them originally, so I could have eggs, but I am afraid that your article may have just confirmed that I have 2 roosters. They are such lovely pets, so I’ll definitely keep them, and I am a vegetarian, so there is no chance they will ever end up on somebody’s dinner plate. It’s just a shame I may see no eggs, though.
Thanks again for the piece.
Simon
Netherlands
Erika says
Hi Simon, thanks for stopping by and commenting. It sounds like you have some lucky chickens on your hands and they’ll have a wonderful home with you regardless!
macie says
Thank you! very helpful
Mel says
I have a 6 week old that gets picked on by two other 6 week olds all are different breeds. she will run away from them and hide when she sees either of them come near her is this normal behavior she seems terrified of them
Erika says
Is she smaller than the others? Does she have room to run away?
Maegan says
Thank you for this post. Most other websites don’t post picture or if they do they only post a vague picture of a rooster without a hen comparison shot. Yours actually has diagrams.
Erika says
You’re welcome! 🙂