Chook Me!

how can you tell the sex of baby chicks ?

i have 2 baby chicks about 3 weeks old, they were colored with food dye ,green and pink, is this harmful and how can i tell if there roosters or hens ?

Public Comments

1. That is not cool that you colored them with food coloring.
2. let them run around a bit. male chicks will run after the female chicks....i think.
3. you look at their wings- the primary and secondary feathers. The females will have one short and one long. the males have all the same length.
4. There are crosses that sex can be told by feather pattern and length, or coloring but only those crosses. It is possible to tell by looking at the vent - this is an expert job not something you can learn on the internet. Many of those coloring Easter chicks get the roosters left from a sex sorted group destined to be laying hens because they are cheap, so odds on they are rooster chicks
5. First the food coloring really not hurt. This was big around Easter years ago. As they grow the color go away. Sexing baby chicks is not easy. It takes a trained eye and you look at the ........ uh ......... well, you look at that! Ha! I see if I can find a link. The way I sex them, as, I already have them so when I know not a big deal.. As they get a little older you will notice the Comb on top of the head is more prominent on the male. I found this at Mother Earth News. It just a small portion of what there. One Popup got through my Blocker. Vent sexing is based on the fact that the hatchling cockerel has a rudimentary sex organ called the "male process" . . . a very small, glossy, transparent bulb that protrudes from amid the second of three cloacal folds inside the cavity. The structure is independent of the surrounding tissues and pokes out almost as far as the vent opening when the border is pushed down far enough for examination. If you're not farsighted, you can see the process with the naked eye. In contrast, the typical female chick has a shallow depression—or just a trace of swelling—at the same site http://www.motherearthnews.com/Livestock-and-Farming/1974-05-01/How-to-Sex-Day-Old-Chicks.aspx
6. i have no idea but look to see it they has pink or blue booties on that might help
7. Poultry sex can be determined by vent sexing which takes a highly trained eye. Or, feather sexing can be done on some breeds at time of hatch. The whole food coloring thing is super popular around Easter. It shouldn't hurt them whatsoever.