What's the difference between a hen and a rooster?

[returntosender]

I'm serious, physically, how can you tell a male from a female? I was told i was wrong but not told why and how i can tell. I need to know before i die. Of course it's crowing says but in a group that are not crowing, how then do you?

 

[Chesterton]

I'm no chicken expert, but I'll take a stab at it. I'm guessing that roosters roost and hens don't, otherwise they'd both be called roosters. But I have no idea what roosting is, you'll have to start a separate thread on that question.

Here's everything else I know about chickens:

1. They are smaller than cows but with proper seasoning they can taste almost as good.
2. If you hold a chicken still and make eye contact with it for a long enough time, you'll start to get really freaked out. I have much experience with this.

 

[Chesterton]

Oh wait, the other thing I know about chickens is that baby chickens are called chicks, and there are these women's libber types, you know, feminists, who think it's offensive to be called "chicks", which is weird to me because baby chickens are cute and adorable. I'd love it if anyone likened me to something cute and adorable, but no one ever has. I even went on that website Fiver. I offered anyone five bucks if they'd just say I was cute and adorable. I got no takers.

 

[returntosender]

Ummmmm, it's a simple question Chesterfield, how can you tell a hen from a rooster by looking at them? You wouldn't want me to die without knowing the answer, would you? Oh wait, i can get a straight answer from Google but i was kind of hoping to see how many don't know. So far 2 out of 2.

 

[returntosender]

Wow, amazing how many don't know according to Google.

 

[Michie]

Trained professionals follow this process for vent sexing: the chick is turned upside down, fecal material is expelled, and the vent area is turned outward in the process. The observer looks for the presence or absence of a rudimentary male sex organ to determine if the chick is male or female.

How to Sex Chicks: What Does and Doesn't Work - Backyard Poultry

Whether choosing day-old chicks or hatching our own, many would like to know how to sex baby chicks. But what works and what doesn't?

backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com

Rooster:

 

[Michie]

Hen:

How to Identify a Rooster vs Hen

Are you waiting for your chicken to crow to decide if it’s a rooster? Skip the wait. Identify a rooster vs. hen using these other techniques, even when they are young chicks!

grubblyfarms.com

 

[chevyontheriver]

I'm serious, physically, how can you tell a male from a female? I was told i was wrong but not told why and how i can tell. I need to know before i die. Of course it's crow says but in a group that are not crowing, how then do you?

It's up to them what they are, hen or rooster. You have to ask them. You MUST respect their pronouns.

 

[Michie]

It's up to them what they are, hen or rooster. You have to ask them. You MUST respect their pronouns.

Stop!

 

[Chesterton]

I agree. If a rooster named Henry wants to be a Hen-rietta, that's perfectly acceptable in 2024.

 

[returntosender]

So much for I'm serious.

 

[returntosender]

Oh wait, the other thing I know about chickens is that baby chickens are called chicks, and there are these women's libber types, you know, feminists, who think it's offensive to be called "chicks", which is weird to me because baby chickens are cute and adorable. I'd love it if anyone likened me to something cute and adorable, but no one ever has. I even went on that website Fiver. I offered anyone five bucks if they'd just say I was cute and adorable. I got no takers.

Must be something in the air

 

[returntosender]

I agree. If a rooster named Henry wants to be a Hen-rietta, that's perfectly acceptable in 2024.

I had a chicken named heniretta

 

[Chesterton]

So much for I'm serious.

Well I think Michie gave us a serious answer, didn't she? I mean, whether you want to go to the trouble of turning a chicken upside down to look for fecal material is up to you, but I guess it's plausible.

 

[chevyontheriver]

So much for I'm serious.

Hens, if they have adequate nutrition, lay eggs. Roosters don't. I could go on, having owned three hens at one time.

 

[returntosender]

RIght, and it's best to not have a rooster with them or you'll get blood in the eggs
I've been around also.

 

[Lost4words]

For me, its a dead giveaway how to tell the difference. The ones with the skirts lay the eggs! Woof!

 

[Michie]

Anyone remember Miss Prissy?

Miss Prissy's first appearance was in the short An Egg Scramble (1950), the only cartoon featuring her and Porky Pig together, in which the other hens are making fun of the fact that she cannot lay an egg, because she thinks it's embarrassing.[5]

Her next appearances are centered on Foghorn Leghorn. In Lovelorn Leghorn (1951), she is set on finding a husband, and in Of Rice and Hen (1953), she is looking to have children. However in Little Boy Boo(1954), she is depicted as a widow with a child, Egghead Jr., and with a much more extensive vocabulary in long sounding words other than her trademark "yeeesss." A Broken Leghorn(1959) and Strangled Eggs(1961) feature Henery Hawk, and in these shorts, it is usually Foghorn who is pursuing Prissy for his own selfish needs. However, he does show an unusual sympathy for her emotional vulnerability.

Miss Prissy also appeared in the cartoon The Yolk's on You(1980).

Miss Prissy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Michie]

Then there is this:

I have a collection of WB on DVD.

 

[Michie]

The full cartoon. Love this one.