4+ week old RIR - pullet or cockerel?

[KappyFlock]

This is Olga! We bought her as a pullet. Can anyone confirm?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Cockerel

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Sorry, Olga is a male.

 

[Sussex19]

Cockerel, I'm sorry to say.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Definitely a cockerel

 

[Faithful flock]

Cockeral!

 

[KappyFlock]

Noooo! Thank you and we are bummed that Olga is actually Otto. We have never had chickens before, but we have been suspicious of "her" from the very beginning. You can see we even had a backup name. haha Her personality stood out from the others. Loud and pushy and she just seemed like a rooster to us. Then the comb and wattle led us to ask you all here.

Now what? We don't want more chicks, we definitely won't eat her, and we don't want to give her away. We don't know how to care for a flock that has a rooster though. I have some reading to do. Rats.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Noooo! Thank you and we are bummed that Olga is actually Otto. We have never had chickens before, but we have been suspicious of "her" from the very beginning. You can see we even had a backup name. haha Her personality stood out from the others. Loud and pushy and she just seemed like a rooster to us. Then the comb and wattle led us to ask you all here.

Now what? We don't want more chicks, we definitely won't eat her, and we don't want to give her away. We don't know how to care for a flock that has a rooster though. I have some reading to do. Rats.You are in the situation that many people find themselves in here. A lot of debate here, too on how to raise a rooster.

That’s great that you can keep him!
I enjoy having a rooster in my flock.

You’ll find all the information you need here on BYC. Just look up the subject in the search bar. There is also several articles in the article section on how to keep roosters, rooster behavior etc. You will need to have enough females. General rule of thumb is 10 hens to 1 rooster, but this can vary.
There is also much debate here on how to raise a rooster.

Good luck.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Noooo! Thank you and we are bummed that Olga is actually Otto. We have never had chickens before, but we have been suspicious of "her" from the very beginning. You can see we even had a backup name. haha Her personality stood out from the others. Loud and pushy and she just seemed like a rooster to us. Then the comb and wattle led us to ask you all here.

Now what? We don't want more chicks, we definitely won't eat her, and we don't want to give her away. We don't know how to care for a flock that has a rooster though. I have some reading to do. Rats.

If you collect the eggs daily you won’t have to worry about chicks And really caring for the flock isn’t much different. Only thing is I would feed Flockraiser or All Flock or something similar instead of layer because the excess calcium can be bad for him. If you do that though make sure you provide oyster shell on the side for the girls. You really should do that anyway though but yeah. I personally loved my roosters, they always seemed to have more personality hahah

 

[KappyFlock]

If you collect the eggs daily you won’t have to worry about chicks And really caring for the flock isn’t much different. Only thing is I would feed Flockraiser or All Flock or something similar instead of layer because the excess calcium can be bad for him. If you do that though make sure you provide oyster shell on the side for the girls. You really should do that anyway though but yeah. I personally loved my roosters, they always seemed to have more personality hahah

I guess I have reading to do but wouldn't the eggs be fertilized? We had planned to eat the eggs but not if they're fertilized. We're already feeding Flockraiser and plan to add some oyster shell eventually. At least that part is easy! haha Yes, Otto definitely has some personality. Now I have to get used to calling him a him and calling him Otto.