# Stupid question...but how can you tell a rooster from a hen?



## jbaskc

We hatched a bunch of our eggs earlier this summer & now can't tell which is which. I thought by the combs, but some of our best layers have combs... :shrug:

We want to keep 1 rooster, but want to separate the rest so they don't hurt each other. I know we have at leat 1, because we can hear him crowing, but we can't narrow it down to which one it is in the coop! lol

TIA & I apologize for my ignorance.


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## KSALguy

combs mean little to nothing depending on the breed, many hens have large combs and some roosters have small ones, 

what breed of chickens are we talking about here? if you can post pics that would help, 

males will have sex feathers and hens wont, sex feathers are found on the BACK of the rooster above the tail where you would put a saddle if you were to ride a chicken, hence the name Saddle feathers, these feathers will be long pointed shinny feathers that are compleatly differint from a normal rounded feather found on the whole body of a hen, depending on the breed and color of the birds the males sex feathers are also a differint color than the rest of the bird


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## Cyngbaeld

Breed and color? I'll try to find a picture given that info.


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## Buster

If it crows, it's a rooster. If it lays an egg, it's a hen.

I think that pretty much works for most breeds.


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## dirtyfeet

Aside from physical characteristics, my hens love me and come running to me...my roo could care less!! Even when I throw scratch around...coda-my roo-could really care less...he cares more about his girls while they squawk around, hen pecking to get the most scratch....this behavior sets him apart from the girls...


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## springledge

I know I am showing my ignorance, but can hens have spurs? I have a chicken that looks hennish...big breast etc. but has small spurs. It is young...about 9 months or so, but I am not sure which this one bird is. I can tell the other roosters, but this one is a little different.


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## mommagoose_99

Some hens have tiny spurs but usually you can differenciate between male and female by 15-16 weeks. 
Linda


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## KSALguy

i have several hens that have spurs, some are pretty good size, hens can have spurs and big combs but NOT male sex feathers,


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## Brisket

The feathers are a give away, I have also noticed that the hens when four weeks to adult will stand each other off but not real long roosters will face each other off and really go at it to see who is top rooster. Just an observation.


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## jbaskc

Sorry I haven't responded, I didn't get a notice that I had messages!

The rooster was a white leghorn. The mamas are different breeds & some of the "chicks" look more like 1 mama than the others, so we can tell which breed they are, but others look nothing like anything we have.

The hens (mamas) will have been any of the following (our first batch of chicks we bought, the kids picked what was "cute" lol):
Buff Orpington
Black Sex Link
Red Sex Link
New Hampshire Red
Ameraucanas


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## Cyngbaeld

OK, guess I'll not try to find pix since they are mixed. Leghorn hens have combs that are as big as the combs of some roosters of other breeds. You'll need to go by neck (hackle) and saddle feathers. A hen has shorter, rounder feathers on the neck and saddle area and a rooster has longer, narrow feathers.

Here is a good guide to poultry anatomy.

http://im.itcs.illinois.edu/ak17supp.pdf


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