# How to tell cocks from hens



## tara2 (Feb 23, 2003)

I am new to homers in which I have a half dozen now. I cannot tell cocks from hens, just hatched my first ones today. 
I also have english trumpters, one large red one wants to act like he is the Dad of the homer hen, the homer cock has switched sitting on the egg. 
He is a real bully, have him in seperate cage now.
Question is how to tell hen from cock?


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

Once the birds have paired and are sitting on a nest, it is fairly easy to tell -- the hen sits at night, the cock bird sits during part of the day









I look for "feminineness" in the hens -- a smaller, finer looking head, eyes fit the face -- they usually sit right at the sides of the head, when you're looking straight at the bird. Cock birds tend to have a bit of "face" around the eyes, and have a courser looking head.

Cock birds also do "the dance" -- they coo, bob their heads, and drag their tails around the hen. After mating, and just before the eggs are going to be laid, you might see both the birds cuddling in the nest box -- the cock bird will almost seem to be snuggling UNDER the hen. The cock bird also usually does most of the nest material gathering -- often bringing his mate new pieces to be added to the nest, once she has started sitting.

Of course, no method of determining cocks from hens is perfect -- except when the hen lays! LOL


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## Pigeonrh (Oct 3, 2001)

Hey there White Wings,
Thought this might be of some interest to you,(and the others), I was at an other Racing Fourm, and they said that if you take a 1-3 day old baby and look at it's "poop hole" you can tell if it's a cock or hen. The cocks will be a smileing, and the hens frowning, so to speak... They say this is very accurate (in the 90% range!).Try it.. but they say it is tricky to us that are just getting use to the trick, if there are 2 of the same sex in the nest.

Later,
Ryan


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

hey Ryan! Yeah, I've heard that one too.

MOST times, there's always "one of each" in a nest, but you do occassionally get two of the same.

The only thing I've never figured out is... how do you remember which is which? Put nail polish on the hen? LOL!!!!!







haha

At 1-3 days, they're still too small to band.... so you've got no way of recording which was which. I don't know if you can still tell at 5-9 days, when you would be banding.


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## pigeonpal (Jan 30, 2003)

Hi Tara2
I have also heard of one and use still today with very good results. As long as they are still squeeking it's pretty accurate.

Set the bird in your hand and observe the toes of the bird. A cock bird will have a longer middle toe than the outside toes. Not just a minisquale amount but an obvious difference. This is how I pick out the birds that go to futurities and has been most accurate. Not 100% but close enough for me.

I use to try other methods and mark the top of there heads with a felt pen 'till I can band them, and I still use this for other purposes now. Works for me.

Steve

[This message has been edited by pigeonpal (edited February 27, 2003).]


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## pigeon_turbo (Nov 21, 2002)

forget all that buthole checking and toe length-i'm not no pigeon racer or i dont claim to be some pro but i've had pigeons ever since i was a very small kid! if you wait and hang out and observe your pigeons, its easy to tell what sex they are...such as males USUALLY(not always) have bigger nose ceres, are usually bigger, have big looking necks. females coo too, but i have never seen a female dance....if you are given a picture of pairs of pigeons, you will almost always be able to spot the male from the female...


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

> Originally posted by pigeon_turbo:
> *forget all that buthole checking and toe length-i'm not no pigeon racer or i dont claim to be some pro but i've had pigeons ever since i was a very small kid! if you wait and hang out and observe your pigeons, its easy to tell what sex they are...such as males USUALLY(not always) have bigger nose ceres, are usually bigger, have big looking necks. females coo too, but i have never seen a female dance....if you are given a picture of pairs of pigeons, you will almost always be able to spot the male from the female...*



Huh --- I've heard of many people who have great results determining gender both of these. And some of them have had pigeons all their life too --- 30 and 40 years.

And I've seen a hen "dance" before -- we've one hen who does it. YES she is a hen --- has laid eggs, raised babies. Determining sex from pictures? Maybe you can, but in some strains, it would be next to impossible.


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## pigeonpal (Jan 30, 2003)

Pigeon_turbo

Tara2's question was valid and so were the responses she recieved. 

The rest by others was some useful information. Information is what we are all striving for and this site is very handy and helpful in pigeon matters to all that visit.

The cree on a bird may be helpful in some breeds. But in racing homers it isn't. The head and neck on a racing homer can tell the different sexes in most cases, but not all cases. I have some breeders here that have the bodies of the opposite sex. Not typical but it does happen alot more times than you'd think. So that's out.

I have also had pigeons for many years. About 22 to be exact, not counting the ones as a kid, and I really enjoy the info this site offers, always learning something. 

I'm no pro either, but real close. Have participated in many money races through out the U.S. Have bred for 11 years,for racing, on average 100 young a year. Some going to special races and some to fly club races with. It is a must in my situation to have an edge on sexing at a young age. And have tried many methods. The hens in the racing sport fly better, but not always, than the cocks because they tend to mature earlier as young birds, than the cock birds will, but not always either but 90% will.

So the toe length is something I put real money on, and it works 95% of the time. But you must be familiar with the breed of birds you use this on. Don't know if it works on fancy breeds or not, but the homers it does.

I also know of flyers that use the rear end method and say it is accurate. Tried it a few times and always seem to get a messy result so I don't use the buisiness end for this evaluation.

I have also seen,as WhiteWingsCa mentioned,hens koo and prance around draging their tails just as a cock will. Not all hens will but some do.

I would also like to applaud Ryan for taking the time to participate in the racing forums around the country. Most are extremely interesting and you can be miles ahead of the competition learning from the pro's on pigeon matters.

Tara2 got the information she wanted and also a little bonus. She may find this valuable some day.

Steve


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## Amber (Nov 17, 2002)

Hi Tara...everyone has a method so i thought i would just share mine. It helps if you or someone you know has more than one pigeon and you know the sex of at least one, for when your learning this technique. You take two fingers at the breastbone and run them down towards their tail. A females pelvic bones will widen out like a 'v' allowing room for egg laying. The males does only a little and stays fairly narrow. The reason why I say when learning to find some pigeons where you know what the sex is, is so you can actually "feel" and know the difference. Like I've said before, it only took me once and I havent been wrong since..I think it's a great method
Amber


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## Teen_Pigeon_Girl (May 5, 2003)

Hi,
It's pretty similar really. You will find that 'most' cocks have larger feet than the hen. This can sumtimes work but not always as i currently have a chick with what seems a females head but males feet- help guys!


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