Make or female?

[sbergstrom09]

Hi! I need help figuring out if my expected pullets may actually be Roos. They are about 6-7 weeks old. The one with the different colored neck (Starlight Green Egger) is making me think she is a he. The Rhode Island Red I am also unsure of too. The Prairie Bluebell Egger (gray) I’m confident is a female.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

I'm leaning pullet for the RIR. She's much too young for male-specific feathers to come in yet, and her comb is a bit large, but not overly so, and is still pale.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

The Rhode Island Red is a cockerel. The chicken shown after the Rhode Island Red pictures is a female with female-specific coloring. I cannot see the blue one well, can you get more pictures?

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Never mind, the blue one would be a pullet as well.

 

[sbergstrom09]

The Rhode Island Red is a cockerel. The chicken shown after the Rhode Island Red pictures is a female with female-specific coloring. I cannot see the blue one well, can you get more pictures?

The RIR did have a stripe as a chick, a few others forum’s mentioned that could mean female. Is it because of the combs/wattles coming in? They’re very light pink not so much red. The SGE seems to be a bit more bossy and jumping at the other two, the RIR has been doing this for a while lol the PBE is skittish but all feathers are rounded

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

The RIR did have a stripe as a chick, a few others forum’s mentioned that could mean female.

No, Rhode Island Reds are not autosexing, so having a stripe would mean nothing. Your cockerel has pointed hackles and thick legs.

The SGE seems to be a bit more bossy and jumping at the other two,

Females fight more than the males. Females have a pecking order, not the males. A male is not supposed to cause fights with his females but it does happen when they are young because they are still figuring out who is dominant and who is not.

 

[sbergstrom09]

No, Rhode Island Reds are not autosexing, so having a stripe would mean nothing. Your cockerel has pointed hackles and thick legs.



Females fight more than the males. Females have a pecking order, not the males. A male is not supposed to cause fights with his females but it does happen when they are young because they are still figuring out who is dominant and who is not.

Ahh ok that makes sense. Is it possible that the RIT could be a larger hen? No crowing yet!

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Ahh ok that makes sense. Is it possible that the RIT could be a larger hen? No crowing yet!

I doubt it, unless your pullet has some hormone issue that is making her hackles pointed and legs thick. Or unless I am seeing the picture wrong. Otherwise it would be a cockerel. Crowing can happen very late or very early, there is no set time for crowing. The average time is six weeks but it is all over the place. My Speckled Sussex cockerel only began crowing at six months old, meanwhile my Cochin Bantam cockerel was crowing at two and a half weeks old.

Edited to add: I noticed where you mentioned size. Size is not a key factor in sexing chickens, only a rather minor factor. I had a pullet that was bigger than my cockerel for six weeks, until she stopped growing and the cockerel out-grew her.

 

[rural mouse]

I doubt it, unless your pullet has some hormone issue that is making her hackles pointed and legs thick. Or unless I am seeing the picture wrong. Otherwise it would be a cockerel. Crowing can happen very late or very early, there is no set time for crowing. The average time is six weeks but it is all over the place. My Speckled Sussex cockerel only began crowing at six months old, meanwhile my Cochin Bantam cockerel was crowing at two and a half weeks old.

Edited to add: I noticed where you mentioned size. Size is not a key factor in sexing chickens, only a rather minor factor. I had a pullet that was bigger than my cockerel for six weeks, until she stopped growing and the cockerel out-grew her.

At 6-7 weeks, the rooster specific hackles haven't come in yet.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

At 6-7 weeks, the rooster specific hackles haven't come in yet.

I'm leaning pullet for the RIR. She's much too young for male-specific feathers to come in yet, and her comb is a bit large, but not overly so, and is still pale.

I agree that she could still be a pullet because the pictures do not have completely clear views of her feathers, but gender specific feathers can come in at six weeks. If they never could, then explain to me why all of my cockerels I have had had pointed hackles at six weeks old, compared to the rounded hackles of the pullets. You have to look very closely, but there is a shape difference.