3.5 week old Orpington with waddles??

[LavenderMotherHen]

To my dismay, this morning I noticed some waddles on one of my lavender Orpingtons. . I haven’t noticed anything else to make me think roo, could it still be a hen??

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Could be.... The earliest best time to determine gender is around 6-8 weeks.

 

[LavenderMotherHen]

Could be.... The earliest best time to determine gender is around 6-8 weeks.

I was trying to hold out until 8+ weeks before I made any guesses- but then I saw the waddles on this little one this morning!

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I was trying to hold out until 8+ weeks before I made any guesses- but then I saw the waddles on this little one this morning!

Nothing looks too pink right now, but it is on the very, very early side.

 

[LavenderMotherHen]

Nothing looks too pink right now, but it is on the very, very early side.

I’m hoping I got them from MPC, so I have to wait until 10+ weeks before I make any true evaluations. They’ll refund me on any sexing errors. Which is very generous of them!

 

[WhySayWhat]

Last night I had an "OMG" moment too, lol. My Delaware suddenly had very pink comb and noticable wattles! I'm supposed to have 14 pullets! However, after panicking, talking out what we would do if we have a roo (hubby doesn't want to eat one we've raised...we do have a friend that has a ranch though), calming down, and going out to hang with the chicks...all my gals with single combs are noticeably more pink now. They are about 4.5 weeks old now.

 

[kurby22]

To my dismay, this morning I noticed some waddles on one of my lavender Orpingtons. . I haven’t noticed anything else to make me think roo, could it still be a hen??

I believe it is very common for both pullets and cockerels to get them early. I have 2 lav Orps that are 8.5 weeks old and the wattles have not gotten a whole lot bigger since 3.5 weeks and have stayed peachy or pale pink as well. I'm watching for the red to come in, and so far none yet. So there is hope for your babies

 

[dct10]

To my dismay, this morning I noticed some waddles on one of my lavender Orpingtons. . I haven’t noticed anything else to make me think roo, could it still be a hen??

My cochin and Ameraucana hens developed their waddles and combs before the roos. They also developed their feathers much earlier.

 

[WhySayWhat]

Here’s my Delaware, Stella. She likes to bite me every chance she gets…she will grab a finger if I’m not paying attention and pull! They’ll be 5 weeks this coming Sunday/Monday.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

Don't jump the gun yet. They're pretty androgynous at this age. Here is one of my Orpington pullets at exactly four weeks. Looks very similar.