Help! My RIR pullet is drawing blood!

[SJ]

Saddles...?

Not sure we're looking at the same things here. So let me see if I can clarify.

In reference to the saddle feathers I would agree that their presence is not to be found on a ~10 week old chicken.

Rather... When one wishes to determine the gender said fowl upon fledging. One may look to the lesser sickle, hackle, and or the cape areas. If plumage is to found there. As there exist rumpless as well as naked/vulture neck breeds. To make sound determination one need only to examine the characteristic of the feathes' tips. The male plumage bares a distictly sharp point. The female plumage from these same areas bares blunt or rounded tips.

Examples:

Silver Kraienkoppe pullet


White Rock cockerel. Right side partial out of frame.



The more you look the easier it gets.

 

[SJ]

If I assess the feathers, then photo #2 ,The barred rock ,does not have pointy neck feathers. this is a male? Trying to learn. Rather not have to have to learn because of the chaos though! Thank you guys!!!!

Just trying to help. What makes this even harder is you not having the counter part to compare and contrast with.

Fan the tail out. If the two outer tail feathers are present you will see pointy feathers on boys like your barred rock. If you have a female her feathers will have relatively blunt tips. I wish I could see the white one better.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Nah...I see a couple for sure cockerels.... #3 & #5...maybe one other, but not all of them.
It'll be another month or so before hackle and saddle feathers grow in.

X2....there are definite pullets in the bunch, saddle and hackle feathering is not gender differentiated at this age

 

[SJ]

where did saddle come into this???

 

[SJ]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1022349/light-brahma-gender-8-weeks-old#post_16039219

 

[jas humbert]

Male or female, the pen is fairly small and the pecking order is just working itself out. I grew up with my parent's production chickens and I thought most chickens were mean to each other. After a couple of decades with no chickens I now have my own chickens and I have learned something. Me personally, I want pets, not production hens. I will NOT keep RIR or leghorns because they are too aggressive for my taste in a mixed flock. I know they are good layers and lots of people like them. But I spent my childhood with RIR and leghorns and I can't believe the difference docile breeds make. EEs are often docile and can get beat up by more aggressive chickens especially when there is limited room and limited hiding places. A few years ago, I got 18 chickens to start with- all docile breeds. Well as they grew, I rehomed the ones who were not sweet enough to each other and ended up with 8 hens I really liked. Australorp, welsummer, wyandotte and speckled sussex. It is not just the breeds - chickens are individuals. Some members of a breed can be much more docile than others. Later I found silkies. The big girls even get along with the tiny silkies and although there is a pecking order, no one gets hurt or loses feathers. The silkie broodies brought their babies out in the main yard several days ago and no meanness at all. The big girls just looked them over, mommies told them to back off, and then the big girls ignored everybody. This afternoon, I saw the huge australorp showing a silkie chick how to turn over things to find worms. The mamas are still watchful but we have had zero incidents in this first week. Nevertheless, we have plenty of hidey holes just in case. Sometimes you have to swap out a few birds until you get the ideal flock mix.

 

[SJ]

. But I spent my childhood with RIR and leghorns and I can't believe the difference docile breeds make.

X2

 

[aldarita]

Male or female, the pen is fairly small and the pecking order is just working itself out. I grew up with my parent's production chickens and I thought most chickens were mean to each other. After a couple of decades with no chickens I now have my own chickens and I have learned something. Me personally, I want pets, not production hens. I will NOT keep RIR or leghorns because they are too aggressive for my taste in a mixed flock. I know they are good layers and lots of people like them. But I spent my childhood with RIR and leghorns and I can't believe the difference docile breeds make. EEs are often docile and can get beat up by more aggressive chickens especially when there is limited room and limited hiding places. A few years ago, I got 18 chickens to start with- all docile breeds. Well as they grew, I rehomed the ones who were not sweet enough to each other and ended up with 8 hens I really liked. Australorp, welsummer, wyandotte and speckled sussex. It is not just the breeds - chickens are individuals. Some members of a breed can be much more docile than others. Later I found silkies. The big girls even get along with the tiny silkies and although there is a pecking order, no one gets hurt or loses feathers. The silkie broodies brought their babies out in the main yard several days ago and no meanness at all. The big girls just looked them over, mommies told them to back off, and then the big girls ignored everybody. This afternoon, I saw the huge australorp showing a silkie chick how to turn over things to find worms. The mamas are still watchful but we have had zero incidents in this first week. Nevertheless, we have plenty of hidey holes just in case. Sometimes you have to swap out a few birds until you get the ideal flock mix.

I agree 100% with your observations, some breeds interact better with each other than others. I have 5 Andalusians (which have leghorn blood in them) and 2 RIR, they are the ones that are bulling the rest of my flock, if I were to take them out of my flock, it would become peaceful (Ameraucanas and Welsummers). Of course this is not a rule because chickens are individuals and there can be friendly and aggressive ones in each breed. Too bad about the OP ending up with so many cockerels when they were supposed to be pullets.

 

[BellasBunch]

second photo of EE has white leghorns tail in background ; )

 

[SJ]

The feathers are a little ruffled but the white looks to be a girl. If it really is a leghorn then it is a girl as the males mature so rapidly that combs and wattles are developing before 10 weeks. The EE's look like clones of my EE roo Axle as a fledgling.