A pterodactyl Orpington and one with no butt?! UPDATE!!

[Cara]

This pullet hatched from a batch of Blue Orpington eggs, from a breeder who also keeps Jersey Giants. She is enormous, more than twice the size of full-grown hens at 4 months old. Other than the size, how can I tell the difference?

This is her with a splash pullet from the same hatch

With an adult EE in the background

Next to a year-old Ameraucana

With another hatchmate, a Black Ameraucana

This one appears to be an Orpington with no butt. Is there something strange in the water here?

 

[speckledhen]

Cara, are you sure that's a pullet?? I have a black Orp cockerel who looks pretty much like that. And I know mine is a boy! Even Julie had a black Orp cockerel she thought was a pullet till he was five months old, a late bloomer.

 

[Cara]

I'm pretty sure she's a pullet. Can you do the wing feather sexing thing on an Orpington? I checked hers and the ones on a definite rooster, and they were different. It doesn't crow and it doesn't fight or try to mate. She/he is humungous whatever she is, and acts awkwardly tall LOL She/he's the same one as in the pictures I took a while back that looked most promising for being a rooster (pic below). She/he is the only one with curly tail feathers, the rest lack butts, especially that last one in my first post LOL

 

[speckledhen]

No, that wing feather sexing doesn't work on Orps to my knowledge. I swear, Cara, that's a cockerel! HAS to be. Mine is 16 weeks old and doesn't try to mate, either, but he does belt out the most pitiful, tiny crow from time to time. Here's my tank, his legs are GIANT just like yours:

These pics were a week ago, so he's grown since then.

 

[Cara]

Fingers crossed it is! I'd always thought it was quite overgrown, until I showed some visitors my birds the other day and they were in awe of how enormous it is. My husband made one of his rare trips out to the coop with me this morning and was shocked too LOL Is there any other way to tell what sex it is? It has small bumps where the spurs are, but I have female birds with those too and one with full-blown spurs.

 

[speckledhen]

Those spurs won't even develop till he's closer to nine months old or so. I don't have a great pic of his sister, Delilah, but she looks alot like your no-rump girl, tiny comb and wattles, no tush. That's normal for pullets of that age Orpington. And my boy is noticably larger than his same age blue brother in the pics.

 

[MissPrissy]

It looks like a roo to me too. Big thick legs and feet - I was looking and thinking - what I am missing here - I just don't see a pullet LOL

 

[Cara]

Is yours standing like that in the second picture because of the heat? Its been getting warm here and my he-she looks like a turkey the way he holds himself sometimes.

Some of mine have green eyes, is that normal? They're a weird looking bunch!

One of the pullets just started laying, so maybe I should separate them a while and see if they start laying fertile eggs.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Oh no!

I'm having the same problem with one of my chicken's from Julie's eggs. Really really big black orp. I don't want it to be a roo!!

 

[MissPrissy]

You need black to keep the blue strong and not wash out. A giant black roo can be a good thing! I have a blue roo, a splash roo and still holding out for a nice big black one.