4 week old Lavender Orpingtons - please help with gender identity!

[heather319]

New chicken mom here. If 3 or more of these beauties are roos, I need to order more pullets ASAP. Can you help me with your best guesses?

#1 (early tail feathers, only one with mostly pink beak)

#1 in front

#2 (early tail feathers - the most active and social)

#3 (smallest bird, way behind others on tail feather growth)

#4 (biggest chick, earliest to grow tail feathers)

I'm afraid I have 3 or 4 roos!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

4 weeks is really too young for most breeds including Orpington.

Fast tail growth is zero indicator and in some breeds slow or no tail growth is actually an indicator of male, the opposite of what you are thinking!

At this age the main thing you will be looking at is wattle growth and color. Red wattles this young MIGHT be cockerels... if it isn't flushing from being excited or hot.

Boys *may* be more apt to joining in EVERY time they see any chest bumping going on.

But really you are grasping at straws here at this age... just order more pullets.

Are these kids straight run or gender ID'ed?

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

It's a bit early for certainty but I say 1,2 and 3 are roos based on the fact that they already have colour in their combs plus a hint of wattle growth. I'm not sure about #4 because I can't see the wattles.

 

[Gray Farms]

4 weeks is just to young to sex accurately.

 

[heather319]

These are straight run from TSC. I went there to pick up supplies for my first chick order (I have 11 pullets currently 1 week old), and low and behold they had 4 lavender orps left in the bin that I could not resist! They are SO SWEET! I sit down next to their brooder, and they race to see who can be the 1st to nest on top of my head!

# 3's tail is so tiny but comb is big so I was thinking roo for sure.
#4's comb and wattles are smaller than the others so I'm thinking (hoping) pullet.
I just hope I have one lady out of the bunch.

I have 8 (3 are bantam so I don't count them in the ratio) more arriving 9/18 so I think I'll just add to that order. Ya know - just to be sure I have enough hens.