11 week old RIR- cockerel or pullet?

[ronott1]

I will note that I ordered them online through TSC, not the feedstore pickups of chick days (we missed chick days by three days), so I specifically ordered RIR's.

Did you order pullets or straight run?

 

[tweetzone86]

Here's a photo (seriously a two year old with pure coffee no water would have held still better! How do you guys actually get pictures?! It took me an hour and a half to get this one!)

So this is the one I suspect is a roo. The rest of them don't have nearly so green tailfeathers, but trying to get a pic of each one at a time has been exhausting and it's so hot outside. I can try and get more but every time I try to get more than one they're moving so fast and their heads are down to the ground (lots of bugs).

So is this one a roo? He/she looks quite a bit different than the others. The others have mostly red tailfeathers (note-a few have some inklings of green too-again, I'm exhausted after trying to get pics and chasing them all over the place-it's way too bright outside to take pics right now I think) and he/she seems to have more black in the hackles. But this comb and wattle is about the same size as all the others, only tinged a bit redder.

Hence why I'm not 100% sure yet...

 

[tweetzone86]

Did you order pullets or straight run?

Pullets supposedly.

 

[ronott1]

Here's a photo (seriously a two year old with pure coffee no water would have held still better! How do you guys actually get pictures?! It took me an hour and a half to get this one!)

So this is the one I suspect is a roo. The rest of them don't have nearly so green tailfeathers, but trying to get a pic of each one at a time has been exhausting and it's so hot outside. I can try and get more but every time I try to get more than one they're moving so fast and their heads are down to the ground (lots of bugs).

So is this one a roo? He/she looks quite a bit different than the others. The others have mostly red tailfeathers (note-a few have some inklings of green too-again, I'm exhausted after trying to get pics and chasing them all over the place-it's way too bright outside to take pics right now I think) and he/she seems to have more black in the hackles. But this comb and wattle is about the same size as all the others, only tinged a bit redder.

Hence why I'm not 100% sure yet...

Normally at 11 weeks an RIR rooster would have bigger and redder combs and wattles. The feathers are a bit off but that happens until the last juvenile molt which is still coming up

Since you bought pullets and this one still looks like a pullet, go with pullet.

 

[tweetzone86]

Normally at 11 weeks an RIR rooster would have bigger and redder combs and wattles. The feathers are a bit off but that happens until the last juvenile molt which is still coming up

Since you bought pullets and this one still looks like a pullet, go with pullet.

Ok so if none of my birds have red wattles and combs (this one has the biggest I think) I may have lucked out and ended up with all pullets? I know vent sexing is only about 90% accurate but I would love to be able to keep them all!

I suppose a few more weeks will be definite.

 

[ronott1]

Ok so if none of my birds have red wattles and combs (this one has the biggest I think) I may have lucked out and ended up with all pullets? I know vent sexing is only about 90% accurate but I would love to be able to keep them all!

I suppose a few more weeks will be definite.

It is usually 95% accurate for vent sexing. Most of the time they will all be pullets.

This is more like what you would see:

 

[tweetzone86]

It is usually 95% accurate for vent sexing. Most of the time they will all be pullets.

This is more like what you would see:

View attachment 1478982

Yeah none of my chicks have that prominent wattles or combs yet. The wattles are barely peeking now at 11 weeks, and the longest comb of any of them is MAYBE 1/4" long and only a few of them are tinged pink, none red yet.

 

[ronott1]

Yeah none of my chicks have that prominent wattles or combs yet. The wattles are barely peeking now at 11 weeks, and the longest comb of any of them is MAYBE 1/4" long and only a few of them are tinged pink, none red yet.

You will have a lot of very tasty eggs! Likely at 22 weeks old. It can take longer when point of lay is in the fall. They look like what hatcheries sell as RIRs not production reds. They look very good too!

 

[tweetzone86]

You will have a lot of very tasty eggs! Likely at 22 weeks old. It can take longer when point of lay is in the fall. They look like what hatcheries sell as RIRs not production reds. They look very good too!

I sure hope so! We eat about 5-6 eggs a day (scrambled eggs for breakfast, and the extra for pancakes or muffins, etc) thereabouts and hope to sell the extras to pay for their feed

A few other pics (again they're not the best ones simply because the darn stinkers wouldn't hold still).

 

[aglandaetap]

I sure hope so! We eat about 5-6 eggs a day (scrambled eggs for breakfast, and the extra for pancakes or muffins, etc) thereabouts and hope to sell the extras to pay for their feed

A few other pics (again they're not the best ones simply because the darn stinkers wouldn't hold still).

All pullets.