Buff Sussex - 7 weeks - Roo or pullet?

[HarrisonCreek]

This chick is still smaller than his/her hatchmates, but is very outgoing. I'm thinking rooster? He/she has also developed a "cluck" long before the others, who are still peeping. Does that mean anything?

 

[HarrisonCreek]

Here's the photo:

 

[BantamLover21]

Looks like a cockerel to me.

 

[Wyandottes7]

That's a cockerel.

 

[Michael OShay]

That's a cockerel.

I agree. Sorry. (

 

[HarrisonCreek]

Thanks for the input. My daughter is sad - she liked this one.
Is this a wait to be sure or would you take him back at this age? We've had one crowing this morning - not this one.
Is it true that once one crows the others won't crow, so you're left guessing??

 

[Wishapup]

Thanks for the input. My daughter is sad - she liked this one.
Is this a wait to be sure or would you take him back at this age? We've had one crowing this morning - not this one.
Is it true that once one crows the others won't crow, so you're left guessing??

In my experience, that can be true. How old are the chicks? The cockerel in the picture looks pretty young to start crowing. I raised about 20 roosters to 6 months and several started early and continued to be dominant. Others began crowing later, and did it occasionally, avoiding the dominant roosters. The most submissive roosters (about 5 out of 20) never crowed. One of these submissive roosters was sold, so he may have begun crowing in an environment where he was the only rooster.

I wouldn't wait for the bird in the photo to mature any longer, because it shows several definite cockerel signs: the red, developed comb; the stance (pullets tend to be more horizontally carried); the tail feathers curling downward.

 

[donrae]

I've never had a cockerel crowing inhibit another bird of roughly the same age that I noticed. Older, dominant roosters can keep the young guys quiet in some cases, but age mates usually just crow competitively.