Is my silver penciled Plymouth a roo?

[three_grannies]

Hello,

I am quite certain that my 8 week old silver penciled Plymouth is a roo. The chick was very slow to feather, the comb and wattle are now so red, and the feathering doesn’t resemble females of the same age (but there aren’t a ton of pictures of this breed since the silver penciled kind is rare). We aren’t allowed to have roosters in our area, and I am devastated as I am quite fond of this chicken. I am a first-time chicken mom, so I would appreciate some thoughts on gender if you are familiar with this breed.

If you have time, I have a few more questions. We got this chick from Meyer Hatchery. Is it common for gender mistakes to occur with Meyer? I did reach out to them with pictures and I am waiting for their response. I’m just anxious about this happening again since we only bought 3 chickens from them and 1 of them is likely a rooster .

Finally, if we rehome this chicken, that will leave us with only 2 young hens. If I buy additional day-old chicks, will it be easier to add them into the “group” since my current hens are still so young?

Sorry for all the questions! I really appreciate everyone’s time and expertise.

 

[Painted Calls]

Definitely a cockerel.

 

[three_grannies]

Definitely a cockerel.

Thank you for your response. Meyer Hatchery reviewed my pictures and said that I need to wait until the chicken is 14 weeks before they will confirm.

 

[Painted Calls]

Thank you for your response. Meyer Hatchery reviewed my pictures and said that I need to wait until the chicken is 14 weeks before they will confirm.

Yeah, they're ridiculous with that. There have been a few people that have gotten accidental cockerels from hatcheries. Most reply with the same response.

 

[Henhouse Harlot]

It's beautiful

 

[Henhouse Harlot]

It would be better to get another young hen, where are you located?

 

[three_grannies]

It's beautiful

I agree!!

 

[three_grannies]

It would be better to get another young hen, where are you located?

In Ohio

 

[Henhouse Harlot]

In Ohio

Darn!

 

[3KillerBs]

Is it common for gender mistakes to occur with Meyer?

The vent-sexing of new-hatched chicks is never better than 90% accurate and some breeds are harder to vent-sex than that. Somewhere in the hatchery catalog or website you'll find this information along with their replacement policy.

The good news is that since Silver Penciled Rocks are unusual you should be able to sell him on Craigslist for more than a cheap chicken dinner.