Australorp & Australorp/Americana Mix: pullet or cockrell?

[kleverenz]

I think I have read every thread (or almost every) on BYC in the last two days regarding roo vs. hen in the last few days. I am coming to the conclusion that two of my chickens are roos (much to my dismay) but I am still stumped due to the lack of wattles. I welcome input in this matter! Unfortunately I cannot give exact ages. When we got the chickens 8 weeks ago we were told they were 14-18 weeks old. We are brand new at this and wanted chickens that were close to egg laying age, I now know that they couldn't have been that old from picture comparisons and they would be laying by now had this been true. They were also "sexed" by the ring method which....my husband and I both rolled our eyes at, but we have little choice when getting chickens where we are located unless we order day old chics online. We can't have roosters in the city, so of course I am hanging onto hope that you all tell me I'm crazy and these are both definitely pullets/hens. I just really need to know for sure

so I can figure out what to do before they start crowing or we get more attached to them. Thank you for your help!

First loaded images are of our australorp.

Next is our australorp/americana mix. Again, we are just going by what we were told (which seems to not be very accurate!) but the breeds do seem to be true comparing to other images.








Other info: No crowing (yet) but these two are at the top of my bunch and I see them 'assert' dominance over one another every so often but never for more than a few seconds. They do stand up tall and stretch their necks out when they do this and hold their wings out. They were the smallest of our 4 when we got them and were at the bottom of the pecking order for the first week but now are at the top. Our other two are very docile RIR and a Comet. They are both definitely hens and look different but they are also older and different breeds.

 

[Aaisha]

they both seem to be roosters to me, for they tail feathers are pointy and long... i would give the black and golden one some more time, but for the black one - well 99% it is a rooster

 

[Tricoglossus]

Both roosters, sorry. They have sickle, hackle and saddle feathers. They look like they are only 14- 18 weeks old now, so what you were told when you got them was not true. What is this "ring method" of sexing? Never heard of it.

 

[appps]

Those long feathers around the neck say boy.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Both boys. The second one with the red feathers is really obvious--those red feathers on the shoulders can only occur in males as they are sex linked. Those huge combs also say male. You aren't getting wattles because of the EE blood--most EEs and Ameraucanas don't have them.

Your first bird looks to be male to me too, based on the large comb, hackle and saddle feathers coming in, and the fact that he's getting his roo tail.

I think that you were told 18 weeks old as a way to explain the red combs--pullets at 18 weeks old will start to have red combs as they near age of lay. I personally think that you were scammed and that the seller knew they were boys and lied about the age to fool you. I hope you didn't pay very much for them, as mixed cockerels are worth maybe $5, tops, and are usually given away for free.

 

[CherishHolland]

2 roosters

 

[kleverenz]

Thank you everyone. The "ring" method I mentioned, the lady held a string with a ring on the end and watched which way it swung. My husband very kindly said, "well, that's interesting. I've never heard of this method done". The husband could see we were not impressed and said that he had already sexed them and they were all females. Our other two that we got from them turned out to be great hens so we'll be calling them to see if we can swap out. Thank you again for all of your input, very helpful.

 

[Tricoglossus]

Oh dear. I can't believe people still persist with the hocus pocus approach to sexing chickens!

 

[chicken pickin]

Yes they are both roosters sorry some people aren't too nice when selling chickens. If they are unsure they should sell them as straight run.

 

[donrae]

They're both cockerels, and the first one isn't an Australrop, he's a mixed breed as is the second. Hope your sellers make it right for you.

You don't have a location listed, where are you located? You can try looking on the byc "where are you" section, see if you can find a more reliable seller in your area.

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