16 week Buff Orpington Cockerel or Pullet???

[swmalone]

So far you guys are making me feel a lot better. My wife will be heart broken if princess buttercup turns into prince. The comb and waddle have only been that large and bright for about a week or so.

 

[Schwartzfarmnc]

I'd say roo, this is a pic of my 15 week old for comparison.

 

[rilly10]

Deff a pullet! She should be laying soon too!

ETA: There are no saddle feathers, or hackle feathers. That is a POL (point of lay) comb and waddles for a hen! The little cockerel in the other post, you can see his saddle feathers coming in and looks boyish to me.

 

[swmalone]

Uh oh I'm starting to get mixed results. I would say that buttercup looked like your pullet at about 11 or 12 weeks of age. All of my chickens appear quite a bit more developed than the picture above, granted they are 3 different breeds and 16 weeks old.

 

[gavinandallison]

pullet --

 

[swmalone]

rilly10
Today 9:44 am
Deff a pullet! She should be laying soon too!

ETA: There are no saddle feathers, or hackle feathers. That is a POL (point of lay) comb and waddles for a hen! The little cockerel in the other post, you can see his saddle feathers coming in and looks boyish to me.

So Rilly were you saying that no saddle feathers or hackle feathers on the pictures I posted or the schwartzfarmnc picture?​

 

[rilly10]

Just remember hens get combs too! Especially when they are getting close to laying age. They will grow fast and turn bright red pretty quickly. She is feathered like a hen as opposed to the second bird who has both saddle and hackle feathers aready and looks younger. You should see the combs on some of my girls here is an example of a Speckled Sussex hen who LOST a lot of her comb points due to frostbite!

 

[rilly10]

Here is a better comparison....this roo is older, but you can clearly see the saddle feathers (hanging down at the rear of his back before his tail)...https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=5426

 

[swmalone]

So now that the comb is larger and starting to brighten up how long should I expect to wait for eggs? I am also still feeding them the chick feed, should I change to layer feed?

 

[rilly10]

It depends on the hen but I would say probably within a month. They are deff ok to be switched to layer feed. The chick food is only really necessary in my opinion for until they are outside in the coop/run to protect from cocci, but some people don't medicate at all and have perfect results! I err on the side of saftey since it is just a few dollars extra