2018 Newbie Chat!

[Geranium]

@Anna Ranieri I'm not very experienced but I've been living on the What Gender board because I'm so nervous one of my pullets will turn out to be a cockerel, and I think she's a pullet! Small, flesh colored comb at 8 weeks sounds like a pullet!

@PNW_Peepers if the comb is turning pink at 3.5 weeks, sounds like a possible cockerel.

I'm so nervous that one of my pullets won't actually be a pullet, but so far so good. They're 4 weeks now, and there's no color in anyone's combs yet, and everyone got their tail nice and early. So, fingers crossed. And their coop is nearly done! They'll be able to move in tomorrow. Still need to put in their roosts, and I have a shelf going along one side to store extra feed, bedding, cleaning tools, etc., and that still needs to go in. But it will be ready for residents, so in they move! I'm sure they'll be stoked for the extra room. And i'm happy they'll be in a place where I can go in and sit with them. I miss spending time with them!

 

[Anna Ranieri]

@Anna Ranieri I'm not very experienced but I've been living on the What Gender board because I'm so nervous one of my pullets will turn out to be a cockerel, and I think she's a pullet! Small, flesh colored comb at 8 weeks sounds like a pullet!

@PNW_Peepers if the comb is turning pink at 3.5 weeks, sounds like a possible cockerel.

I'm so nervous that one of my pullets won't actually be a pullet, but so far so good. They're 4 weeks now, and there's no color in anyone's combs yet, and everyone got their tail nice and early. So, fingers crossed. And their coop is nearly done! They'll be able to move in tomorrow. Still need to put in their roosts, and I have a shelf going along one side to store extra feed, bedding, cleaning tools, etc., and that still needs to go in. But it will be ready for residents, so in they move! I'm sure they'll be stoked for the extra room. And i'm happy they'll be in a place where I can go in and sit with them. I miss spending time with them!

Thank you So far not one has said cockerel so I'm feeling very much reassured. Since @ChooksNQuilts told me Roo is female I have believed she is its just sometimes I get a little shakey thinking what if .... So the reassurance helps a lot - thank you.
I can relate to you feeling nervous it is a very worrying time for anyone who isn't able to have, or doesn't want a cockerel, I hope for you that all yours are pullets and of the pictures I have seen of your flock so far I believe all of them are pullets.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

I’m on the fence. I went through my photos, and looked at all my previous Ameraucana chicks at this age. Coincidentally I have a great photo of the chick in questions mother when she was 3.5 weeks old and her comb is pinkish as well! She even has the same intense stare!

 

[Geranium]

@Anna Ranieri I'm not allowed to keep roosters where I live, so once they start crowing, they'll have to go to a new home. And i'm so attached to all of them, I would hate to have to give one up. Hopefully they're all girls.

@PNW_Peepers that's really interesting! The problem with the What Gender board is that for the most part, people post a picture, people tell them it's a pullet or a cockerel, and they say ok thanks, and move along. Rarely do they come back with an update as to whether people were correct or not! So who knows really how accurate all the guesses are.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

@Anna Ranieri I'm not very experienced but I've been living on the What Gender board because I'm so nervous one of my pullets will turn out to be a cockerel, and I think she's a pullet! Small, flesh colored comb at 8 weeks sounds like a pullet!

@PNW_Peepers if the comb is turning pink at 3.5 weeks, sounds like a possible cockerel.

I'm so nervous that one of my pullets won't actually be a pullet, but so far so good. They're 4 weeks now, and there's no color in anyone's combs yet, and everyone got their tail nice and early. So, fingers crossed. And their coop is nearly done! They'll be able to move in tomorrow. Still need to put in their roosts, and I have a shelf going along one side to store extra feed, bedding, cleaning tools, etc., and that still needs to go in. But it will be ready for residents, so in they move! I'm sure they'll be stoked for the extra room. And i'm happy they'll be in a place where I can go in and sit with them. I miss spending time with them!

P.S. With my first two pullets it was so easy to tell, even at 4 weeks old their whole stance and demeanour smacked that of pullets - their combs were yellow for the longest time and one of them still hasn't much wattle growth at 23 weeks! But with Roo Its been less obvious for me because although her comb is light, I saw at 5 weeks it had started to redden, and I had read that Orpington can be hard to sex because some females redden very young and some cockerels can stay yellow for longer than most breeds, so I panic.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I’m on the fence. I went through my photos, and looked at all my previous Ameraucana chicks at this age. Coincidentally I have a great photo of the chick in questions mother when she was 3.5 weeks old and her comb is pinkish as well! She even has the same intense stare! View attachment 1555488

Well that's positive Maybe you do have a pullet after all - here's hoping

 

[Anna Ranieri]

@Anna Ranieri I'm not allowed to keep roosters where I live, so once they start crowing, they'll have to go to a new home. And i'm so attached to all of them, I would hate to have to give one up. Hopefully they're all girls.

@PNW_Peepers that's really interesting! The problem with the What Gender board is that for the most part, people post a picture, people tell them it's a pullet or a cockerel, and they say ok thanks, and move along. Rarely do they come back with an update as to whether people were correct or not! So who knows really how accurate all the guesses are.

What is it with people and Roosters!??? I remember as a kid laying in bed listening to all the cock a doodle doo's even though we lived in the town and it was lovely and back then no one thought anything of it but over the years it has become less and less to the point that to see or hear a cockerel nowadays I have to go to a farm or breeder who is permitted to keep them. A couple of months ago I woke to hearing a cockerels crowing and thought I was dreaming but heard it several mornings in a row and it was lovely - turned out our local school had a cockerel amongst its flock and have been forced to re-home it despite it being the school kids favourite. Its so sad and angers me terribly how is their crowing any worse or louder than the dogs who barks and/or howl incessantly or birds of the air who squawk and crow every morning - just makes me so annoyed.

You've made a good point about the gender boards, - the only experience I have is that I used the gender board to ask about my ducks when they were about 10 weeks old and everyone guessed correctly, so I'm pretty confident their guesses are pretty spot on and reliable.

 

[Geranium]

@Anna Ranieri agreed about the roosters. My neighbor's dog barks all the time and is really obnoxious. But nooooo, no roosters allowed!

 

[CannedMonster]

Ohh wow, such a tiny little egg! Is that the normal size for a bantams egg?

Oh no not at all.
These are called “fairy” eggs.
Both bantams and LF can lay them.
It’s just part of the reproductive system getting up and running.
Some chickens will lay strange looking eggs occasionally.
This egg most likely has no yolk so it couldn’t be fertilized.
Some birds will occasionally lay an egg with a membrane but no shell, or eggs with double yolks, etc.
This is actually the first fairy egg we had here.
Here’s a normal bantam egg:

Bantam egg on the right.

 

[CannedMonster]

And here is Diamond today at 7 weeks. Contrast the color of his comb and presence of baby waddles with Roo's. Roo is a pullet. I think Diamond tried to crow today too. It was squeeky and just one long sound without any breaks, but I haven't heard anyone else make that sound.View attachment 1555051 View attachment 1555052

Such a cute boy!