2018 Newbie Chat!

[CannedMonster]

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.

I’ve raised 20 chicks so far and 6 of them have turned out to be cockerels.
I’m getting pretty good at it.
It’s difficult when you’re new to chicks and you only have one sex.
You never see how different they really are.
But the photo of Diamond shows how obvious it is when compared to Roo who is basically the same age and also the same comb type.

I want you to realize that in the next month Roo will start looking pink and develop tiny wattles.
That is normal pullet development!
Of my 11 girls I have right now, many are starting to get some color and tiny wattles. The girls combs are still small though.
they’re 3 months old now.
In fact, Sumi and Charlotte are both Australorps and Charlotte has red skin around her face and Sumi doesn’t yet even though Charlotte is a week younger.
Oliver is way more developed and has been for a long time now.
A cockerel starts developing at a much younger age as you’ve seen with Diamond.
So don’t panic when you start to see it.
Roo reminds me a lot of Pippin, even though Pip is a bantam and a Cochin.
Pip was the first chicken that made me realize that chickens can get “flushed”.
Especially breeds that have very light skin.

 

[CannedMonster]

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

I’m no use when it comes to Amauricanas or EE.
I’m currently raising my very first EE and they’ve confused me for some time.
I’m starting to get pretty sure that Skye is a pullet but now I’m not sure about Taka.
Taka seems to be getting saddle feathers but I don’t know what “normal” looks like for an EE.
I mean they’re probably not saddle feathers because they’re really not skinny enough but they’re not as round as the others are, even Skye.
Taka also is extremely independent and has no problem standing up for herself with most of the others.

 

[CannedMonster]

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 too

I agree also that I’d rather hear a rooster crowing than dogs barking.
Now that I have 2 crowing cockerels and I’m going to have 3 soon (as well as other roosters within hearing distance) I can tell you that when one starts crowing they all usually start.
And it can go on for a while.
Given that people get attached to them and love to turn them into pets, imagine if everyone in your neighborhood had one.
And they all crowed for 20-30 minutes several times a day and even sometimes at night.
That would quickly become a problem.
And some roosters have a terrible sounding crow!
One in my area sounds like a screaming toad!
Angus sounds like he’s yodeling

Still...people seem to be able to let their dogs bark at will regardless of any noise ordinance.
I have found silicon earplugs to be a Godsend!
Especially when DH is snoring!

 

[Anna Ranieri]

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:
View attachment 1555514

Bantam egg on the right.
View attachment 1555515

I never knew any of this, I'm so glad you told me so I won't freak out if any of this happens when my girls start laying

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I’ve raised 20 chicks so far and 6 of them have turned out to be cockerels.
I’m getting pretty good at it.
It’s difficult when you’re new to chicks and you only have one sex.
You never see how different they really are.
But the photo of Diamond shows how obvious it is when compared to Roo who is basically the same age and also the same comb type.

I want you to realize that in the next month Roo will start looking pink and develop tiny wattles.
That is normal pullet development!
Of my 11 girls I have right now, many are starting to get some color and tiny wattles. The girls combs are still small though.
they’re 3 months old now.
In fact, Sumi and Charlotte are both Australorps and Charlotte has red skin around her face and Sumi doesn’t yet even though Charlotte is a week younger.
Oliver is way more developed and has been for a long time now.
A cockerel starts developing at a much younger age as you’ve seen with Diamond.
So don’t panic when you start to see it.
Roo reminds me a lot of Pippin, even though Pip is a bantam and a Cochin.
Pip was the first chicken that made me realize that chickens can get “flushed”.
Especially breeds that have very light skin.

Thank you for this, helps a lot. I have noticed Roo has pinkish appearing already, I admit I freaked a bit which is why I posted the pictures yesterday. You are so right about the differences and inexperience, I've only had three chicks (including Roo) my other two were so slow at turning red compared to Roo, and both still have tiny patches only now starting to turn and Pedro has only started developing wattles and they are approaching 6 months, so seeing pink on Roo so young worried me.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

@Geranium too

I agree also that I’d rather hear a rooster crowing than dogs barking.
Now that I have 2 crowing cockerels and I’m going to have 3 soon (as well as other roosters within hearing distance) I can tell you that when one starts crowing they all usually start.
And it can go on for a while.
Given that people get attached to them and love to turn them into pets, imagine if everyone in your neighborhood had one.
And they all crowed for 20-30 minutes several times a day and even sometimes at night.
That would quickly become a problem.
And some roosters have a terrible sounding crow!
One in my area sounds like a screaming toad!
Angus sounds like he’s yodeling

Still...people seem to be able to let their dogs bark at will regardless of any noise ordinance.
I have found silicon earplugs to be a Godsend!
Especially when DH is snoring!

Yup, you have a point, mind you I will say though, I am surrounded by at least 6 dogs, two which are directly next to me and they make a lot of noise everyday but I've gotten used to it, same as the noise of cats squabbling at night. I just think people notice cockerels more because the sound is unusual. My breeder friend has loads of cockerels and his wife(whom I am also very close friends with) told me they drive her crazy sometimes because they all crow at 6:30 am in the winter and about 4:30 am in the summer and sometimes he might have as many as 20 all crowing at the same time! So I do see your point.
I'd love to have a cockerel though, I do love em and love how they sound - any chance you could post some videos of your guys crowing? Especially Angus and Silkie, would be a massive treat if you do

 

[Duckymark]

We have a pair of freeranging bantam roosters who lost all their hens to predators. They belong to my neighbor. One of them has a lovely classic rooster crow. The other sounds like a victim in a slasher flick. One sustained gurgly scream instead of a standard rooster call.

My chicks are just shy of 2 weeks and I am also a newbie. Hello.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

We have a pair of freeranging bantam roosters who lost all their hens to predators. They belong to my neighbor. One of them has a lovely classic rooster crow. The other sounds like a victim in a slasher flick. One sustained gurgly scream instead of a standard rooster call.

My chicks are just shy of 2 weeks and I am also a newbie. Hello.

Welcome! When you can get pictures, we'd love to see your babies! How many do you have?

 

[Duckymark]

I have 4 CX straight run and 4 brown leghorns pullets. This picture is from a few days ago.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

We have a pair of freeranging bantam roosters who lost all their hens to predators. They belong to my neighbor. One of them has a lovely classic rooster crow. The other sounds like a victim in a slasher flick. One sustained gurgly scream instead of a standard rooster call.

My chicks are just shy of 2 weeks and I am also a newbie. Hello.

Hello and - so sad about the poor hens
Would love to hear the "gurgly scream" bet its funny lol