Rose may be a Ross!

Coykoi

Songster
6 Years
Sep 6, 2016
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I bought two Buff Orpingtons and two Australorps only to find out that one of the Australorps is a Black Sex Link. Now I'm concerned that one of my Orpingtons (Rose) may be a male! On the male side of the ledger, larger and slower to feather. On the female side, very docile, and I cant have a rooster! Of course no comb development yet on any of them.

They're less than two weeks old, the others' wing tips touch their tails, Rose's are visibly shorter, plus no tail feathers yet. I'm not throwing in the towel just yet, I'm hoping that she's just a little slower to develop.
 
How much variation do you see between the earliest developing hens and the latest? Its hard to tell what might be in the normal range when there's only four. For those of you that bring on 50-100 or more chicks at a time, is there a "normal" range of a week's difference in feather development between female chicks? Rose/Ross is about a week behind her/his feather development from the others. Other than slow feather growth, she/he seems perfectly normal. My sex link is starting to develop a comb, but the others aren't, Rose/Ross doesn't seem more aggressive, if anything she/hes quite passive. Eats, drinks, poops, runs around normally, but at approximately 2 weeks of age she's/he's just starting to get tail feathers while the others have had tail-ettes for a week and are starting to get body feathers.

Still not panicking, but concerned...
 
I hope Rose is a Rose for you!
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So glad you joined us!
 
I'm feeling less hopeful that Rose/Ross is a Rose. Comparing her/his legs and feet to the other Buff Orpington there's a big difference in size, her/his comb is developing quicker, now visibly larger and pinker than the other chicks, and she/he is more aggressive. She/he chest bumps and flares her/his neck feathers whenever someone gets out of line. They're only 5 weeks old, so there's still hope, but I'm feeling pretty resigned that she/he is a HE
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Given the "look the other way" attitude in my town and that the closest neighbor wanted me to have a rooster, we may just wait and see if anyone complains...
 
I have 2 Buff Hens and one of mine has always been a bit more "hefty" than the other. One is just very petite overall--skinnier legs, slimmer build not quite as "fluffy", and a MUCH smaller comb...so who knows you may have 2 girls..time will tell
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The flaring of the neck feathers kind of leads me to think rooster, but you just never know!!
 
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She/he chest bumps and flares her/his neck feathers whenever someone gets out of line. They're only 5 weeks old, so there's still hope, but I'm feeling pretty resigned that she/he is
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I'm nodding my head yes
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, the chest bumps are the giveaway. A few years ago we got 4 straight run chicks, and 2 of them were so funny, standing up tall and chest bumping each other, even while they still were all cute fuzziness ! !
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The 2 boys were eventually placed in good homes in the country.
 
Six weeks old, I still don't have clarity on Rose/Ross's gender. Here's some recent pics, sorry they're not the best, they are definitely on the run now!


This is Rose/Ross in the foreground.



This is the sex-link that seems to be developing pretty much at the same pace. Her comb's not as pink, but has big, thick legs like Rose/Ross. The blur in the foreground is Daisy, the other Orpington, who's comb has not even started to develop.





The best pic of Rose/Ross (with a Daisy photobomb)

 
Definitely a Ross, and the sexlink is not a sexlink. It looks like a Jersey Giant or Australorp cockerel. That much pink in the comb, at that age, is a definite indication of a cockerel. Females don't start to pink up in the comb until they are getting near laying age.
 
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