Facing off - cockerels?

[Mosey2003]

I'm holding out hope on at least one of my English Buff Orpingtons just being an aggressive hen and not a cockerel. I can't watch videos at work, but "facing off" is what this one seems to do. Raises the neck feathers and flaps at other chickens. I've tried looking at the neck feathers to see if any are pointy vs. round, but I'm not sure just how pointy they should be to indicate cockerel. The guy I bought them from claimed that pullets will have feathers on their backs much faster than cockerels, and all mine feathered really fast. He brought me three, smaller replacements and one of them already had a pink comb, but he assured me it was a pullet. Now, I just don't know...

 

[junebuggena]

Pictures and ages of your chicks?

 

[Mosey2003]

Pictures and ages of your chicks?

I don't have any individual or close-ups, and I don't know which it is that commonly does it (they're all yellow, lol!). To my untrained chicken eye, they all pretty much look the same feather and shape wise. 11-12 weeks old. Of course, that could mean they're all cockerels, too...

 

[junebuggena]

How old?

 

[Mosey2003]

How old?

Approximately 11-12 weeks (I just actually got a calendar out and counted, oops!), sorry I skipped over that the first time you asked

 

[junebuggena]

At 9 weeks old, cockerels will be very bright red in the comb. Of the three that are showing combs in the pictures, they look like pullets.

 

[Mosey2003]

At 9 weeks old, cockerels will be very bright red in the comb. Of the three that are showing combs in the pictures, they look like pullets.

Oh good! At least they're mostly pullets then. Sometimes I swear that one is pretty red, but then other times I can't find a red comb in the bunch... Can it bloom up if they're excited?

 

[junebuggena]

The skin around the base of the comb can flush when a bird is excited or stressed, making the comb seem pink. Cockerel combs are bright, raspberry pink/red all the time.
To give you an idea of what 'bright pink' means, this is an 8 week old cockerel. Not the same comb type, but that's the color of a young cockerel comb, all the time.

 

[Mosey2003]

Hmmm... Will have to inspect closer tonight!

 

[aart]

Pullets can pink up when excited....then pale out again, so can cockerels but usually stay redder...look for larger red wattle growth in males too.