16 week Buff Orpington Cockerel or Pullet???

[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

 

[swmalone]

rilly10
Today 9:53 am
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

Compared to the rooster in that threat I am definitely leaning towards pullet with mine now as well.​

 

[rubbertoe9999]

Quote: hi ! i need to revive your thread my" hen" PEACHES looks just like yours did at that age, I live in Kearns , Utah and have some of these too havent layed or crowed yet so im still playing the guessing game did you ever figure it out ? i havent yet and mine are 15 weeks tommorrow and look just like the one in the first pic let me know please thanks

 

[questions543]

ya... its hard at this age because right before they lay there comb turns red.. I would WAnt to say roo but....

 

[DeannaOR]

I think it's a roo...here are pictures of my Orpington pullet and roo. 16-18 weeks.


Lenny, my roo. He is 20 -22 weeks now and just starting to get his skinny feathers on his neck and back in the darker gold color.


This is Lucy at 16-18 weeks. Note the much lighter colored pigment around eye and comb.





Edited: Just realized this is an older post...sorry.