Ok, Take a stab at the gender

[ctcasper]

So, anyone have any advice on wether I should put an order in for more to get some pullets?

 

[tx_dane_mom]

Wow....i think you might have one girl in there out of all of them....rough....

 

[cjeanean]

depends on how many pullets u want.....if I were u I'd wait to make sure you don't already have pullets, since it would suck if you ordered more and ended up with twice as many as you wanted....I guess you'd be eating chicken for a very long time in that case LOL! Do you remember if any of them got red combs earlier than the rest??? Do any of them currently have smaller/lighter combs than the rest? What breeds do you have???? My one rooster is very obviously male, and that's in comparison to the others who are the same age within just a few days. I think I may have one other rooster, but that's only based on attitude. I think he's a top hat (I don't know if that's really the breed, but that's what I've heard them called

) I think I read somewhere on this forum about the attitude difference of males as opposed to female. Someone suggested passing like a hat or something over them, something to startle them, and the males instintively stretch up towards the source of the scare whereas the females huddle down to the floor. If you don't mind taking the chance of ending up with more pullets than you expected go ahead and order some.....just so long as you have the room you can never have too many

P.S. Still think 9 is a 'her'!!!

 

[ctcasper]

How long do I have before it is obvious which are which??? And what is the distinguishing factor?

 

[Katy]

The combs and the wattles are usually the first most noticible factor. Roos are redder and larger.

If they were at my house they'd already been at the poultry auction and sold as roos.

 

[silkiechicken]

Honestly, at 8 weeks old, if you are sure they are 8 weeks old, they all look like boys to me... However, if they are 14-16 weeks, girls can start to develop combs then. If you look at the pics that cjeanen put up, the BR roo is in the middle, and the girls are around the edges... where did you get these birds?

I would order 110% of the number of pullets you want from a place that sexes them. Reason I say 110% is because mistakes to happen in sexing, and finding homes for girls is usually pretty easy. Good luck with those boys there.

 

[ctcasper]

Where can you order them from sexed, i know mcmurrrey doesn't have orpington pullets available now. I bought these because I was hoping to have eggs sooner than I would with day old chicks, so much for that, dang it

 

[silkiechicken]

You can try MM, ideal, meyer, privett and pretty much any large hatchery. May also try around locally again too. However, my guess is that pullets are gong to be sold out this time of year since it is still in prime chick buying season. I got my chicks two weeks ago... but ordered them more than a month ahead of time. Best of luck.

 

[cjeanean]

the orpingtons I got from my feed store were ordered from Estes Hatchery in Springfield, MO and they are very lively and healthy. I talked to a lady at the hatchery and she was very helpful and I seem to remember her having BO's - pullets and roos. Just and idea.

https://www.esteshatchery.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_26&products_id=55

Just looked at the site, the pullets are $2.13 apiece for an order of less than 10, plus .47 each for sexing.....the price drops the more you order. Does look like they have some...might want to call and make sure....

 

[ctcasper]

I guess I will try ordering like 6 or 8 from the local feed store. They get them from a hatchery like 30 miles away and I think they are under 2 bucks. Just to be sure that I get as many layers as I want. I think they are available April 15th they said, but I am not sure if I can get them sexed or not. I will have to check on that tomorrow.
Thanks