Do we have a Roo?

[cli88]

We are wondering if one of our two Austalorps is a Roo?

I took a picture of both of them. And then the close up is if the one we think could be a Roo. They're about 6 weeks or so. What do you guys think? Why is ones tail going straight up and the others stays down.

Looking for opinions! This is our first Bach of chicks

Thanks so much!

 

[gemma24]

I don't think so. unless it crows because our 4 week old rooster crows. and it does not have a red comb.(our little roo does)

 

[gemma24]

oh, and the comb is the little thing on its head.

 

[Greenthumb83]

We are wondering if one of our two Austalorps is a Roo?

I took a picture of both of them. And then the close up is if the one we think could be a Roo. They're about 6 weeks or so. What do you guys think? Why is ones tail going straight up and the others stays down.

Looking for opinions! This is our first Bach of chicks

Thanks so much!

I am raising my first batch also. I have 6 Australorps that are 8 weeks old and my cockerel made himself known very early. He was red in the comb at 3 weeks and his comb was huge. I've seen many others say the same. I think yours are pullets. Mine also had good sized red waddles by 6 weeks.

 

[cli88]

We have not heard a crow yet. Yeah the comb is more pink right now - but it's a bit bigger than the other ones. . We already have our two roosters and are hoping these are both hens!

 

[cli88]

That's comforting news. This one is more bold but that could just be the personality. Only real difference we can see right now is the tails

 

[Greenthumb83]

That's comforting news. This one is more bold but that could just be the personality. Only real difference we can see right now is the tails

One of my lorp pullets is very outgoing. She jumps up on my back whenever I bend down in the coop, loves to be petted. She even struts back and forth in the window bawking lol. My little roo is super shy. It can go either way. When we got them, 3 of them grew tails quickly, while the others had no tail. I assumed the three with stubby tails were boys, since my barred rocks grew that way. Nope, still only one cockerel. Even a little pink in her comb at six weeks is no big deal. If it gets red in the next couple weeks, it could possibly be a boy.

 

[waddles99]

Chickens, as with people, all have different personalities. As you spend more time around them, you get to know each chicken for their individual personality. Certain hens can and will be dominant and push the others around, especially without the presence of a rooster. You seem to be focusing on the tail angle being an identifying trait of a roo. This may be the case between birds of the same breed, but not between different breeds of birds. Within a breed, roosters do have higher tails than females(or should anyway). But between breeds, tail angles vary on females, too. For example, my rhode island red has a tail angle of 10 degrees as per breed standard, while my ameraucana have tail angles of about 40 degrees as per breed standard. If your australorps have higher tail angles than the rest, the australorp breed standard may just call for a higher tail angle.

 

[cli88]

Thanks for the great info. When referring to how the tail is I was just comparing the two Autsralorp tails - one has a higher tail than the other. So we were beginning to wonder if maybe one was a pullet and the other a roo

 

[waddles99]

Oh, ok. I thought you were saying that the australorps had higher tail angles than the other chickens. Australorps will have higher tail angles on the roosters than the hens. But, since the one with the higher tail looks like a hen, it is more likely that they are just inconsistent on their tail angles. Hatchery birds are like that.