24 week Australorp... hen or roo?

[mjt071478]

I have six chickens... 4 BSL, 1 Black Copper Maran and this Australorp. They are all around 24 weeks (except the Maran is about 22 weeks). As a side note, we do not have ANY eggs yet! In any case, the aussie has always clearly been the most dominant bird of the six (we have had them all since about 14 weeks). The guy who sold us the birds said he was very confident in the sex of the BSL's and the aussie, the only one he was not 100% sure about is the Maran. However, at this point, it is pretty certain the Maran is a hen. This is our first time having chickens, so we do not have anything with which to compare, but the Aussie definitely has much more red and defined comb and wattles than any of the other birds. She also has very tiny nubs of spurs on her legs (although I think even hens get that). But, the most concerning part is that one of our six birds has very distinctly been crowing. It has happened a couple of times over the past week or so and then this morning one bird crowed about 6 times over the course of about 15 minutes when the sun was coming up. It was not just noise, as far as we can tell, it was distinctly crowing.

When my wife gets back home this afternoon she will try to get a closer look at the saddle feathers to confirm if they are rounded or pointed as we understand this is the most definitive way to know the sex. I will also see if she can get more pics to post.

Thoughts?

And, also, should we be concerned that none of them are laying yet? Or maybe they just aren't quite as old as we think they are.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Well the pic is not great but I would say roo. I have four roos and one pullet and the pullet has a small pick comb and almost no waddle.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

I don't have any Marans yet but I would give the egg laying some more time. My RIR's and JG started laying around 23/24 weeks. It is SO hard to wait on that first egg but it is worth it!!!!

 

[mjt071478]

Sorry, the picture quality isn't great, we snapped them quickly, in the dark this morning on a camera phone... will try to get better pics later today. But here are a few more that we took.

 

[ramirezframing]

that looks like a rooster

 

[Kelsie2290]

that looks like a rooster

X 2

 

[mjt071478]

Here are the new pics. Any clearer?

 

[donrae]

Yes, the Aussie is a rooster. I think the ages are off, though, none of those birds look near that age. I'd put them at more like 16 weeks now. From what I can see of the combs on the hens, eggs are nowhere close, not within a month or so anyway. At this point, maybe not until spring.

 

[mjt071478]

Yes, the Aussie is a rooster. I think the ages are off, though, none of those birds look near that age. I'd put them at more like 16 weeks now. From what I can see of the combs on the hens, eggs are nowhere close, not within a month or so anyway. At this point, maybe not until spring.

That being said, we have had them on layer pellets for about a month now... should we keep them on the layer pellets?

 

[Wyandottes7]

That being said, we have had them on layer pellets for about a month now... should we keep them on the layer pellets?

Personally, I would take them off the layer feed. It looks like they won't be laying of a while.