He or she??

[ninajones77]

Hi all, I'm new to chicken keeping. I have a beautiful 8 week old brown Sussex . I hatched her myself and love her to pieces but I am now fearing she is a he

Comb only just started to come through. I'm praying it's a pulley . Any thoughts?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

For now it appears to be a pullet.

 

[junebuggena]

Are you sure about the age? An 8 week old chick should be completely feathered in. Your's still has down on the head.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Mine will still have down on the head at eight weeks.

 

[junebuggena]

You might be keeping your chicks too warm, if that's the case. I've yet to have a 6 week old that wasn't completely feathered...

 

[ninajones77]

The photo was last week here's a more recent one. They are Defiantly 8 weeks old now.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The photo was last week here's a more recent one. They are Defiantly 8 weeks old now.

That looks more rooster.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You might be keeping your chicks too warm, if that's the case. I've yet to have a 6 week old that wasn't completely feathered...

I don't brood until it's warmer here, late May to Mid June, so they are eight weeks during the heat of summer, so that's probably why, good to know.

Edited to add I'm not brooding much as far as adding extra heat, mostly the first two weeks and at night.

 

[junebuggena]

The photo was last week here's a more recent one. They are Defiantly 8 weeks old now.

Looks like a cockerel to me.

 

[keesmom]

We don't have brown Sussex here in the US, but from the images I've found online the males and females have different color patterns. The males are black breasted red coloration. Given the amount of black feathering I can see I would say cockerel.