I don't see Opal Legbars at very many hatcheries, but I saw a number of places that had Cream Legbars, and every one of them listed both males and females.
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/cream_legbars.html
https://www.idealpoultry.com/items/cream-legbar/colored-egg-layers...
I wonder if you can work with the dog before you have to make a final decision? If you can train her to be safe around animals before you move, then you know she's a good choice. And if you try to train her and can't do it, you know that she is not a good choice for the situation, and you can be...
I know this was much earlier in the thread, but I wanted to add:
Cackle Hatchery has sexed bantams of some kinds, and has been offering them for several years.
Last time I looked, it was any with the barring gene (black with white barring, plus Crele Old English Game) and some the red/buff ones...
Interesting.
Any chance of moving them to another part of the property temporarily, instead of in your basement? I'm thinking a portable run or "pet playpen" put somewhere else.
Or maybe consider building an actual coop & run on a different part of the property. You can work with a slope: just...
https://meyerhatchery.com/products/pages/terms
"Extra chicks may be included on orders of 25 or more and are intended to cover any losses should they occur."
I'm pretty sure that I have seen some other hatcheries also say that they do not send extra chicks on small orders. The reason given is...
How long have you tried leaving them in the pen? Going hungry and thirsty for a few hours won't hurt them, as long as they have the chance to eat and drink afterward.
Most chickens have an amazing ability to get used to things, if you just let it happen and be patient. (Of course there are...
Lots of people are raising chicks for the first time, so they do not yet have experience. And with or without experience, lots of people worry because chicks are so small and seem fragile, and they want to do everything right.
The people who do not have problems, and the people who have raised...
As a general thing, baby chicks do not need to be taught about food and water.
Put a group of chicks in a brooder, have food and water available, and watch what happens: they peck everything and discover the food and water for themselves.
They do learn by watching each other, which makes...
Have you weighed that chicken and compared with the correct weight for that breed? Many bantams from hatcheries are larger than they are "supposed" to be, so I wonder if your small one is actually undersized, or if it is the only one that is actually the correct size for its breed.
Female...
They both look female to me.
Irridescent feathers can happen in females and in males.
Tail feathers curving over, at least a little bit, can happen in both sexes. It appears to be happening in both of your current ones (the one you think might be male, and the one you are pretty sure is...
In that case, I think at least part of the difference in comb size is caused by what sex each one is.
If you've got a sex difference and a comb-type difference, you can get some really extreme differences (like in this case) or you can get confusing situations (a male with a small comb type and...
You would have to try it and find out. There are several ways it could go wrong, and at least one way it could work properly.
There are several different kinds of "white" that could be involved and will give different results.
If the Australorp has recessive white and no barring, this will...
Hens do not seem to recognize which eggs they laid, or which chicks might be their own actual offspring, so if you do want more chickens you could buy fertile eggs for her to sit on and hatch, or you could let her sit on fake eggs for about 3 weeks and then buy chicks for her to raise.
Or of...
You can eat a chicken at any age. Younger chickens are generally more tender, and older chickens have tougher meat. This means you get the best results by cooking with different kinds of recipes for chickens of different ages.
There are quite a few posts talking about this in various levels of...