6 week old lavender Orpington, pullet or cockerel?

[GottaHatchEmAll]

A month and a half ago, we did an assisted hatch with our little Lucky. Miraculously, she survived. She is growing into a beautiful chick and will be six weeks old tomorrow. About a week and a half ago, we found out that her brother Fuzzy was a cockerel after weeks of uncertainty when his comb and wattles were a bright red color. I know that feathers aren't extremely reliable for sexing, but their feathers look almost identical and I don't know if little Lucky is a male or female. However, her comb is pale and does not extend to the top of her head. I'm uncertain on whether she is a male or female. Any advice?

 

[ella2025]

A month and a half ago, we did an assisted hatch with our little Lucky. Miraculously, she survived. She is growing into a beautiful chick and will be six weeks old tomorrow. About a week and a half ago, we found out that her brother Fuzzy was a cockerel after weeks of uncertainty when his comb and wattles were a bright red color. I know that feathers aren't extremely reliable for sexing, but their feathers look almost identical and I don't know if little Lucky is a male or female. However, her comb is pale and does not extend to the top of her head. I'm uncertain on whether she is a male or female. Any advice?

Photos would help, but feathers don't matter at this age.

 

[ClickityChick123]

If you could post pictures it would be very helpful!

 

[GottaHatchEmAll]

Here are the pictures. Posting from my computer so had to send the photos from my phone.

Btw, Lucky's comb is NOT red. It's actually dark gray. The phone camera is just making it look red.

 

[ella2025]

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Here are the pictures. Posting from my computer so had to send the photos from my phone.

Btw, Lucky's comb is NOT red. It's actually dark gray. The phone camera is just making it look red.

Lucky is not a lavender orpington(just in case you bought the eggs and they were advertised as so) maybe a mix. But she looks like a Cockerel to me so far. I think it would be worth waiting a few weeks before making any decisions.

 

[GottaHatchEmAll]

Lucky is not a lavender orpington(just in case you bought the eggs and they were advertised as so) maybe a mix. But she looks like a Cockerel to me so far. I think it would be worth waiting a few weeks before making any decisions.

What is she part, then? I got the eggs from a friend who has a variety of chickens, including lavender Orpingtons, so they are definitely lavender Orpington mixes. (I'm thinking half lavender Orpington, half blue cochin bantam.) When they started growing their feathers, I knew something was off about them because they didn't look like purebred lavender Orpingtons to me.

I'm thinking Lucky is a pullet because she has almost no wattles at all, her comb only extends just beyond her beak and is dark gray with an extremely small hint of pale pink, and her legs are slender and graceful compared to her brother Fuzzy's very noticeable bright red wattles at just six weeks old, a bright red comb that extends nearly to the back of his head, and chunky and meaty legs. Also, Lucky is a very gentle chick who enjoys being held, while Fuzzy is very aggressive and will peck aggressively at you if you try to hold him. Fuzzy is now starting to get a bit aggressive towards Lucky due to hormonal surges, and will occasionally try to court and mount her.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Cockerels can be very friendly. So I wouldn’t base anything on behavior. That little crest on her head makes me think there is some Legbar in her background. I say her because the comb is not enough to go off of right now. I’ve been fooled by Orpingtons with early comb development that was bigger and redder than hers. That Orpington is still laying eggs so wait until about 12 weeks when it should be more evident. Keep us posted!

 

[angc11]

Yeah it's hard to tell what gender at this stage, but the comb does look pretty big for 6 weeks. It would actually help to see a picture of the confirmed cockerel to compare the combs! In my experience, combs are always a better indicator of gender than feathering at that age.

But also just to say that orphingtons don't have crests or feather feet so she's definitely a mix. And cochins don't have crests so she wouldn't be an exact cross of orphington x cochin. She looks to me like an orphington x silkie cross since she has the crest and feather feet. and i could be wrong but it maybe looks like she has the start of beard and muffs too which would also point to silkie cross.

 

[2ndTink]

Does your friend have silkies? That would explain the crest, black skins, and leg feathering.

 

[GottaHatchEmAll]

Does your friend have silkies? That would explain the crest, black skins, and leg feathering.

Yes she does have silkies. I just know that my chicks are part lavender Orpington. Mom was a lavender Orpington, but I don't know what dad was and she doesn't know either.