6-8 week olds, can you tell the sex yet?

[Rhodebar Lover]

I have updated pictures of all my boys. Because as per usual, you guys seem to be right on.
Pictures are Hazel (starting to get the wattles growing now) Rubin, Willow, Onyx, Olive and Flower. Hazel, Olive and Flower are getting the coolest feathering in..I may have to keep one of those boys since my secondary cockerel passed away last week.

Oh and the lady who sold me all these as writer eggs or chicks actually looked at the picture of Willow and said it looks like a girl! He's an andalusian... Definitely looks like a roo to me. He's about 13 weeks now.

The seller is clueless. All birds in front of the pic are cockerels

 

[Painted Calls]

The seller is clueless. All birds in front of the pic are cockerels

Very obvious cockerels, too.

 

[Pippin quail]

The seller is clueless. All birds in front of the pic are cockerels

I know.. She also calls their combs "cones" which bugs me so much. Lol

 

[Pippin quail]

Very obvious cockerels, too.

Yes, getting more obvious by the day. Glad you guys called it and prepared me early on.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

I know.. She also calls their combs "cones" which bugs me so much. Lol

I understand wanting to buy local and I think that's great! But I see SO many local sellers who have absolutely no knowledge of the genders and breeds of their birds and the parents are very poor hatchery quality themselves. There are exceptions but it's so incredibly prevalent. I saw someone say there are "chicken peddlers and chicken breeders" and I think that's pretty accurate, the latter being very hard to locate

 

[Pippin quail]

I understand wanting to buy local and I think that's great! But I see SO many local sellers who have absolutely no knowledge of the genders and breeds of their birds and the parents are very poor hatchery quality themselves. There are exceptions but it's so incredibly prevalent. I saw someone say there are "chicken peddlers and chicken breeders" and I think that's pretty accurate, the latter being very hard to locate

Yes I'm starting to see this more and more. I thought all the eggs/chickens I bought were going to be what they said they were. But have been fooled a few times with the breed or sex. And then buying what I was told were healthy chickens only to find scaly leg mites and infect my chickens with coccidiosis. So no more. Now that I have hens I will just hatch my own in the future and have a diverse backyard flock.

That being said, is there anything wrong with selling hatching eggs or chicks if they are clearly advertised as backyard mix and straight run? I don't intend to become a breeder, but I also don't mind selling extra fertile eggs or hatching chicks if people want them. But I don't want to just be another chicken peddler.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Not the best pic, but Opal is the on the end closest to the camera.

She’s turning out beautiful!

 

[Pippin quail]

She’s turning out beautiful!

Thanks! I agree, she's a beauty. I look forward to seeing what chicks from her and my lavender Orpington rooster will look like next spring. Since she's a buff/lavender mix.

Some of my little cockerels are looking extremely cool too. I'm having a hard time deciding which one or ones to keep!

My hubby and daughter both love Granite. And if I want to breed purebred barred rocks, he works be the obvious choice because i have 3 barred rock ladies... But he's not the most friendly and seems kind of boring to me.

Then Hazel and Olive in the middle here are both looking pretty neat and are both really friendly still, especially Hazel.


But the absolute most handsome rooster I think I've had so far is Mr. Flower. He gets more and more shimmery colors in his feathers every day.. Sort of hard to tell from pictures, but he's got greens and purples and blues, and the gold on black just looks so fancy! He's pretty friendly too. And he, along with Hazel and Olive, all have the extra toe, feathered feet and muffs/beards of the salmon faverolles. So that's just fun and cute! So hard to decide and I know I can't keep too many because they'll just eat more and fight...

 

[Pippin quail]

I have to post some pictures of Flower, now called Blackstar (character from a book we're reading and it's fitting with his coloring). Some of my other boys have similar gold hackle and saddle feathers, but against the black they just look so cool. And then his black feathers are actually so shimmery and colorful in the light! Sorry just had to share because he's so stunning! Haha. My hubby says he's picking which cockerel we're keeping since he'll be the one butchering the rest... But I've already decided Blackstar is staying. I also love Hazel. I really need a rooster coop