Age?

cluckincarole

Chirping
Apr 30, 2020
60
34
66
I've been looking at other orpington chick posts and I wonder if I have the age of mine correct?

I got them May 13th and I was told they were a week old. That would make them 3.5 weeks old right now if that age is correct.

I bought them 3rd party. A friend of mine received them as extras from a private breeder. I'm thinking they were probably more like 3 days old when I picked them up. They haven't feathered out a ton yet. Some are starting to get pin feathers on their backs and chest.

I only really care about the age because I need to sex them sooner rather than later. These little pretties were an impulse buy as I had already bought an order of pullets in April ..that arrive in 3 weeks. So I need to decide to keep my hatchery order or not based on the sex of these guys. I don't have a ton of room and already have 4 others. 96920623_3500193016662438_8375073849380700160_n.jpg 101023181_3545317298816676_5872179200915406848_n.jpg 101332578_3547478425267230_1212829971899219968_n.jpg 101389304_3547478385267234_7135936919325638656_n.jpg 101620165_3547478468600559_6702863169162838016_n.jpg 101678907_3547918661889873_4546426481445699584_n.jpg I don't want to cancel my pullet order because I had the ages wrong and made wrong assumptions about gender.

Day we got them.

Pictures from 2 days ago and yesterday.
 
Age seems correct. Good Orpingtons can be slow to mature. Unfortunately you won’t be able to accurately sex them for at least another 3 weeks. Any cockerels should start going red in the comb over the next few weeks. It does look promising for at least 2 pullets though.
 
I would wonder if they're closer to 2.5 weeks of age. I have some of that age currently (good quality English Orps) and they have the same number of feathers yours have, if not more. Of course, this depends on the line of chicks too, but I would guess they're younger rather than older. They are very young, but if I had to guess gender, two and three may be cockerels
 
#3 being a cockerel would not surprise me. It is the biggest chick now in height and body (they were all the same size) and it's always had a prominent comb. This one does have tail feathers, l

#2 is the friendliest chick which in the past has meant a boy in my other batch of chicks.

These are supposed to be mottled lavenders and from good stock but since I don't know the name of the original breeder I really have no way of knowing.

Pictures of #3 from this morning.

I'm not sure if orpingtons get their wattles early or not? They all seem to have them.

99436567_3549480815066991_1417508188873293824_n.jpg 100547184_3549480881733651_7122638644015267840_n.jpg 100751756_3549480941733645_40524708654874624_n.jpg 101503622_3549481008400305_5862506694046646272_n.jpg
 
#3 seems to change a bit every day..isn't that always the case LOL. So #3 was named by my oldest daughter and its name is Daisy..just for reference for the photos. It now has longer tail feathers than #4 (who is named Tiny Diamond by my 6 year old :lol: )

#1 #2 hardly any tail feathers or other pin feathers. Their wattles are a pink/red color.

When they were just a few days old/week old #3 and #4 had more wing feathers than the other two with #4 having the longest with #3 a close second.


#1
101025139_3549838871697852_1923130808613208064_o.jpg

#2
100088867_3549822371699502_5667451085011288064_o.jpg
#1 & #2 together
101543768_3553154291366310_2271469320791916544_o.jpg 102362843_3553153768033029_5678075386697613312_o.jpg
101597991_3553154494699623_7759741491269861376_o.jpg 102314269_3553154441366295_4531772370859327488_o.jpg





#3 aka Daisy starting to get white pin feathers on back and chest. bigger/more tail feathers than #4. Bigger comb than all the other chicks.
101317314_3553148941366845_8266780677123342336_o.jpg
101737366_3553147634700309_5436771771682390016_o.jpg
101575564_3553148621366877_8625402406160564224_o.jpg
84485165_3553151404699932_2983101889425440768_o.jpg 85126826_3553161218032284_4672227314791088128_o.jpg


#4 aka Tiny Diamond lots of grey pin feathers on her back and white on her chest. Tail feathers not as full as #3.
101532219_3553157761365963_3770411403857362944_o.jpg
101570988_3553158401365899_2465596491041865728_o.jpg
82315418_3553157934699279_5768597607781761024_o.jpg
 

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