7 week old Golden laced wyandottes. Gender Help.

[Lady Lionheart]

Pretty sure that I am going to have two for sure roosters but I am unsure about the other 8.

 

[azygous]

Yep, two cockerels. You probably already know which ones. (#1 and #5) The girls have paler, smaller combs and no developed wattles. They also have less vivid plumage.

I adore Wyandottes. They are super eye candy and the girls are terrific layers. I have three seven-year olds still laying regularly, and a nine-year old still pushing out an occasional thin-shell egg.

 

[Lady Lionheart]

So this is #4. This one has red too but no comb development. Hen?

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

So this is #4. This one has red too but no comb development. Hen?

Pullet. Pics 1 & 5 are cockerels.

 

[Lady Lionheart]

Thank you

 

[aglandaetap]

So this is #4. This one has red too but no comb development. Hen?

1 and 5 are the obvious cockerels. I think #4 is a pullet. Some Wyandottes pullets tend to have early reddening and comb development.

 

[azygous]

#4 is a pullet with a tad more pigment than usual in the comb, but it isn't developing. Comb development in pullets holds off until right before point of lay.

Hormones are responsible for comb color and development. Boys start getting hormones around six weeks, sometimes earlier. Girls don't experience a hormonal rush until they are approaching point of lay.

I can usually peg the boys as early as three or four weeks when the comb begins getting pigment, making the comb appear yellow. It continues to pick up pigment, each week getting more orange, finally becoming decidedly red by age six or seven weeks. Pullets have very little to no pigment until after four to six months. Therefore, it's pretty easy to weed out the cockerels very early.

 

[Lady Lionheart]

The sharp little points on the pullets combs are normal?

 

[Lady Lionheart]

You can see it in pic #2

 

[azygous]

Female Wyandotte combs can vary greatly in size, shape and texture. I had a pullet reach point of lay and developed a comb as large as a rooster's. It had a long tail coming off the back like some sort of flamboyant bicycle helmet, and she was repeatedly attacked for it, ripping it twice almost completely off her scalp. Eventually, I resorted to a partial dubbing to render her comb less conspicuous. That solved her problems and she was accepted after that.