cockerel or pullet?? Pic

[trunkman]

I bought 2 white rock chicks at tsc, at least I think they are white rocks, anyway I heard that roos tail feathers take alot longer to grow. Well the larger of the two chicks is more aggressive than the smaller one and has no tail feathers yet while the smaller one has tail feathers about 3/4 of an inch long, they are about 12 day old. Is the one with no tail feathers a roo??

This pic is a few days old but you can see the one on the right has tail feathers and the larger one on the left doesn't. The one on the right has longer feathers now and the other still has none.

 

[BarkerChickens]

Too early to tell. You won't be able to tell the gender until they are about 4 weeks old.

 

[felidaet]

Hard to tell. From the photo it looks like the legs on the bigger one are thicker. This could be a hint of a rooster.

 

[Kazzandra]

I have a white rock hybrid that looked a lot like these guys. I picked him out of a bunch because he had the least amount of feather growth and therefore I thought he was a hen. Now I know that slow-growing feathers is usually a sign of a rooster. And this guy has the largest wattles and combs I've seen on a rooster.

Video is more useful in determining gender, anyway, because baby rooster behaviour is so obvious when they are in what they consider to be "their" flock. They are insatiably curious about what you're doing, but don't want to be touched. They like to stand on top of things, etcetera.

I do believe that one on the right looks like a rooster. The ways its standing and its mannerisms reveal a possible rooster.

 

[chkchkchkee]

I'll bet the one without the tail feathers is a pullet. I just raised a few for myself and the pullets had less tail and comb from the get go. My two cents!

Good Luck with your new babies!

 

[19hhbelgian]

Watch the comb and wattle growth... You will see a definite difference between a roo and a hen once they get a little bit bigger. Other than that, patience is key

 

[Sequin]

I will be interested to see how this turns out. I too thought the upright stance of the chick on the right looks akin to a rooster, but time will tell I guess. I have two of a different breed that I am wondering about just like yourself. One is Def. feathering in faster and has more of a pullet shape, but is also more outgoing and 'bossy' - which would seem like a roo trait. I am just going to have to wait. Keep us posted please, they are cute little chicks!!

 

[Chicken Paradise]

Either way, you'll get eggs or fried chicken dinner, as the rocks are super yummy!

 

[speckledhen]

I'm betting you do have one of each there.