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There are several differences between male and female chickens that should help in identification.

Anatomy of chickens

To be able to work with chickens, you first must know the various parts of a chicken and their functions, and how to tell male and female chickens apart. The major external parts of a chicken include these:

• Beak - The chicken's beak serves three functions. First, it is the chicken's mouth. Second, it is used for fighting and protection. And third, it functions as the teeth of the chicken, enabling the bird to break grass, bananas and other foods into pieces small enough to swallow.

• Comb and wattles - It is believed that the comb and wattles of chickens serve to cool their blood.

• Ear lobes - The ear lobes of chickens serve hearing and other ear functions.

• Eyes - The eyeball of a chicken is stationary; thus, a chicken must move its head to vary the range of vision

• Feathers - Feathers provide insulation and bufter extremes of heat and cold.

• Wings - Chickens cannot fly very well. They can flap their wings sufficiently to raise themselves about three meters (m) off the ground

• Tail and tail feathers - The tail is used for balance while walking and, in flying, as a rudder for up - and - down and side - to - side motion.

• Feet and claws - In addition to walking, feet and claws are used in fighting (for protection) and in finding food.

There are several differences between male and female chickens that should help in identification.

These are:

• Size - The male will grow taller and usually weighs between 0.5 and 1 kg (1 to 2 pounds) more than females of the same age upon reaching maturity. A male of one breed may weigh less than the female of another breed. This greater size is not apparent until the chicken attains four weeks of age. At one day old there is no difference at all between male and female chicks.

• Comb and spurs - The comb of the male will become much larger than the comb of a female. On the female, spurs hardly develop at all when compared to the male.

• Vocal expressions - Everyone knows that a rooster crows while a hen doesn't. What is not generally known is that roosters crow intermittently all day long, not just in the morning.

• Feathers - Adult males have distinguishably different feathers from those of adult females. The most distinguishable are the tail feathers which are long and stringy on the male.

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