Protective "Top" pullet?

[OffBeatBetty]

Hello! I am new at raising chickens and currently have 4 (3 silkies and 1 Orpington.. soon to add 2 salmon faverolles). My Orpington, "Gretta" is a very sweet girl and very social. She is the head honcho in the pecking order due to her outgoing personality and sheer size. She is secretly my favorite. I thought my biggest concern about raising these birds was the gender ambiguity of the silkies... I am prepared for a possible roo(s) with them. The breeder I got them from was 99% certain Gretta was a pullet. BUT...Gretta has been very protective of her flock and I suddenly had the fear that maybe this means she's a roo??? Is it normal for the "top" pullet/hen to protect the others? Or is this strictly roo behavior? She is over 3 months old and has very little comb and no wattles... no redness either. Just a little bit pinkish/yellow color in the tiny comb. She also has very round saddle feathers and her overall build is low to the ground and round. I have heard that Orps can just be "pushy" in nature and am hoping this is the case with her. She looks just like other pics of Orp pullets this age, but the behavior is concerning me. Could she just be a macho lady? Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Probably a macho lady.

My rooster had HUGE wattles and comb by three months, and was growing at 6 weeks! This is my roo at 3 months -

 

[OffBeatBetty]

Thank you so much for your pic and answer!! It makes me feel quite a bit better about her. Above isn't the best pic of her, but I took it yesterday. Clearly not much of a comb, though....

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Definately a pullet! Could you post a better picture of her, especially the back half of her? She might not be and orpington...

 

[aggiemae]

Our boss hen (a RIR) keeps a pretty close eye on the other hens in the flock. She has been in charge of the flock since they were first hatched and she was also the first hen to stop chasing and pecking the 2013 pullets. This spring she started CROWING and considering that she has never heard an actual rooster crow she is pretty good at it!

 

[OffBeatBetty]

Definately a pullet! Could you post a better picture of her, especially the back half of her? She might not be and orpington...

Okay... she is being camera shy and would only let me photograph her in the run (and with my white silkie photo-bombing her, lol) The lady who I got her from primarily breeds silkies, but also has Orpingtons and Barnevelders. Maybe Gretta is a cross between the two other breeds? She has the most gorgeous red/chestnut plumage! I got her so I would have a good egger since the silkies will only give me little eggs.

 

[OffBeatBetty]

Our boss hen (a RIR) keeps a pretty close eye on the other hens in the flock. She has been in charge of the flock since they were first hatched and she was also the first hen to stop chasing and pecking the 2013 pullets. This spring she started CROWING and considering that she has never heard an actual rooster crow she is pretty good at it!

Whew! So glad I'm not the only one with a boss-lady (though I hope mine refrains from crowing too loudly, haha) Gretta swoops around the yard and collects the mostly blinded-by-feathers silkies and makes sure they don't get lost! It's so cute! I've even seen her sitting on them in the evening at times. She will be a great Mommy.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Quote: She very well could be, it looks like she has some of the color pattern of a Barnevelder, but doesn't match exactly.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Quote: Aw!

Got a question for you - are your silkies skittish because they can't see as well? My muffed EE gets scared when you come from the side, I think it is because she can't see you coming because of her fluffy muffs. They are so cute!!!!!

 

[OffBeatBetty]

The fluffier the silkies get, the more they can't see and now they crash into things a lot

If I come up to them before announcing my presence, they get very startled (I have had them since they were very little and not fluffy... so I got used to them being able to see me... they have gotten extreme crests in the last week or so). So, I've been trying my best to remember to start talking to them well before I approach them. This seems to alleviate their "skittish-ness." Gretta is their "seeing-eye-pullet" and helps them around the yard and rounds them up if one is wandering too far from the group.