Possible Roo?

[JulesRSA]

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I think this one is a boy. I circled what looks like saddle feathers, although if they are scruffy due to malnutrition, maybe they aren’t pointy saddle feathers. But I do still think he has red wing patches. The head and face look pullet-like to me. If it were my bird, I would wait and watch a little bit longer before I got rid of it, but I would believe it was male until proven otherwise.

Good job reporting the seller. Although I guess you can’t expect any refund now. That’s pretty shameful of him to have your replacements boxed up so you couldn’t see them. I think he’s either extremely clueless or a scammer.

Thanks so much for your input - I’m so grateful to have found such an amazing online community at BYC!

My sense (and my husband’s, because he came with me this time for moral support) is that he’s just extremely clueless - he seemed to feel genuinely awful about the mix-up and didn’t hesitate regarding replacement or refund. He also promised to personally deliver new chickens if any of these also turn out to be cockerels, but we’ll see... I don’t know if he has any way of knowing I was the one who got his ad taken down, but he can probably guess since I gave him a piece of my mind about it. Being clueless isn’t an excuse if you’re selling chickens as sexed pullets (ie if you can’t be certain, say that to potential buyers) and it really isn’t an excuse to neglect and mistreat an animal.

I am also worried about the ginger chicken - I noticed those darker red wing patches coming in, and there’s some comb reddening and development happening this week, too he/she was so much smaller than the others that it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he/she is either a younger bird or just extremely malnourished, and for either of those reasons, is developing later than would otherwise be the case.

So far he/she doesn’t have any pointy saddles or hackles - all feathers are distinctly rounded, but as you say, it could just be too early to tell given the condition he/she arrived in.

I’ll know more once the vet sees them tomorrow. That’s a cost I won’t be able to recover, but I need to know for sure. I feel really torn about what comes next if some/all are cockerels - it’s next to impossible to re-home cockerels where I live, because Roos are banned by local ordinances. Family friends who keep a small Lohman Brown flock had to euthanize an accidental rooster after trying for months to find a home for him and being reported by one of their neighbours and fined. This guy also offers to swap or refund me - I feel really awful returning the poor birds to his care and not knowing what happens to them afterwards

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

Thank you @Rhodebar Lover - I have actually got an appointment with our local small animal and avian vet tomorrow afternoon my time, to get them sexed and just generally checked out, because even as a complete novice flock owner, I can see that these poor birds were not given proper care. I’ll keep you guys posted - praying for pullets! I’ve already alerted the person who put me onto this “breeder” and reported the advertisement the “breeder” placed online, which has been taken down. I’m going to report him to the local ASPCA as well.

I am feeding a combination of starter crumble (20% protein) and grower pellets (18% protein, with supplements for growth support) on an 80/20 basis to get their protein intake up, and limiting treats to small amounts of mealworms and a spinach “piñata” once a week (also a boredom buster with all the unseasonal rain we’ve been having limiting their free ranging time!)

The difference between the new birds and the single pullet I kept from the previous batch, who has spent 2 extra weeks on a proper diet, is unbelievable. Holding thumbs that I can keep and do the same for the rest of them.

That's awesome!! Sounds like you're giving these babies great care. Fingers crossed you have pullets

 

[JulesRSA]

Hello BYC friends. By way of update, our local avian vet (the only vet at the practice who does sexing) had a family emergency and couldn’t see my chickens today - there isn’t another avian specialist anywhere near us and I don’t know when our bird vet will be consulting again, so I think I’m going to have to just wait and see with these babies.

They are otherwise healthy - just horribly underweight. They’re supposed to be around 1.3-1.4kg if pullets, and 1.5-1.7kg if cockerels at this age (according to the vet who was on duty). suspected cockerel #1 (Bella) is just 1.1kg, Holly (suspected pullet) is barely 1kg, and poor Ginger (suspected cockerel #2) is a measly 700g!! poor bird!

It’s stressful knowing I may not be able to keep all of them, but it’s impossible not to fall in love with them. Bella is a lap chicken who loves a snuggle, Holly is starting to come out of her shell and trust humans a bit, and Ginger has been nicknamed Ginger-nut (a beloved local ginger biscuit brand) and Ginger-nutcase due to his/her newly acquired habit of flapping up to perch on your arm/shoulder like some kind of weird parrot it’s just impossible not to love them for as long as we have them.

I’ll keep you all posted on any obvious male or female traits that emerge!

 

[JulesRSA]

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that everyone is doing okay with the severe weather and cold in the US!

Here are some updated photos of the two possible roos - apologies in advance for the quality, we also had our first attempted hawk attack yesterday (unsuccessful thankfully), so everyone is a bit nervous and reluctant to come out from under the sheltered portion of the run at the moment.

They are now around 16 weeks old, and have been on a proper diet for just over 3 weeks. Both birds are in much better condition (although I’m still treating the whole flock for mites and lice - need to do another scrub down and permethrin spray of the coop and run, as well as dusting each bird).

The cockerels from the previous batch developed fairly quickly once they were on a proper diet, and these two don’t seem to be developing much in the way of combs and wattles, or pointy saddle and hackle feathers, so here’s hoping Ginger has gotten much more pink/red around the face over the last 2 weeks, but I’m not sure if the mites/lice and associated treatment isn’t also a factor? Ginger’s crest is also really coming through, which fits his/her crazy personality perfectly

I’m not seeing any particularly rooster-ish behaviour from any of them, they will chase and sometimes jump at each other when free ranging (especially right after I let them out in the morning), but all 4 do this equally and it never escalates into the kind of sparring I saw the boys from the last batch doing.

@Overo Mare , @3KillerBs and @Rhodebar Lover I’d love your input when you have a moment. Thanks in advance!

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that everyone is doing okay with the severe weather and cold in the US!

Here are some updated photos of the two possible roos - apologies in advance for the quality, we also had our first attempted hawk attack yesterday (unsuccessful thankfully), so everyone is a bit nervous and reluctant to come out from under the sheltered portion of the run at the moment.

They are now around 16 weeks old, and have been on a proper diet for just over 3 weeks. Both birds are in much better condition (although I’m still treating the whole flock for mites and lice - need to do another scrub down and permethrin spray of the coop and run, as well as dusting each bird).

The cockerels from the previous batch developed fairly quickly once they were on a proper diet, and these two don’t seem to be developing much in the way of combs and wattles, or pointy saddle and hackle feathers, so here’s hoping Ginger has gotten much more pink/red around the face over the last 2 weeks, but I’m not sure if the mites/lice and associated treatment isn’t also a factor? Ginger’s crest is also really coming through, which fits his/her crazy personality perfectly

I’m not seeing any particularly rooster-ish behaviour from any of them, they will chase and sometimes jump at each other when free ranging (especially right after I let them out in the morning), but all 4 do this equally and it never escalates into the kind of sparring I saw the boys from the last batch doing.

@Overo Mare , @3KillerBs and @Rhodebar Lover I’d love your input when you have a moment. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the kind words about the weather! It's been a bit cold here but we're almost through it. Both are pullets!! They look so much better now-almost like different birds

 

[3KillerBs]

Both look like pullets to me.

With prior issues slowing them down that's not 100% certain, but I don't see anything pointy in the saddles.

 

[JulesRSA]

Thanks for the kind words about the weather! It's been a bit cold here but we're almost through it. Both are pullets!! They look so much better now-almost like different birds

So glad to hear that you’re getting through the freezing weather okay!

I haven’t weighed Ginger again, but she (love that I can now say “she” ) has literally almost doubled in size in 3 weeks. It’s lovely to see them growing and thriving!

 

[Painted Calls]

I also see two pullets!

You've done an excellent job with them!

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

So glad to hear that you’re getting through the freezing weather okay!

I haven’t weighed Ginger again, but she (love that I can now say “she” ) has literally almost doubled in size in 3 weeks. It’s lovely to see them growing and thriving!

Awww! They're beautiful. You'll potentially end up with some blue or green eggs once they start laying too! That's amazing she's doubled in size. They're very lucky to have you

 

[JulesRSA]

I also see two pullets!

You've done an excellent job with them!

Hooray! and thank you. I’m so relieved, because I’m really fond of all 4 of them