Okay so we are 10 weeks now and I know, I know... But after today, there are still two birds I am watching for roosterishness.
There were several interesting behavior things I noticed as well, but I wondered if the main (secondary sex characteristic) could be how they are holding their tails.
The hens (including my known Welsummer pullets) all have these fan like tails pointing upwards, but the tails on these two tend to taper and point downwards. It really stood out to me when I noticed them hanging out together in a mixed group.
I thought it was so interesting as the evening rolled around, they were very much hanging out together and were the last two into the coop, once all the other hens had made it in safely. So it seemed like they were checking out the scene, pacing around and standing very upright, and then they went to roost by the window, side by side looking out, which I found really neat.
I know there can be various things going on with behavior, so grain of salt, but also the first time I saw a bird try to mount was this morning, and it was one of the ones I'm watching. (Which I know could also be a hen dominance thing.) The other is part of this bonded pair I have noticed from the beginning, and side by side, I think you can see that the tails are different.
Could cockerels still be a possibility here, just with slower comb and wattle development?
Most of the unmarked pics are the two in question, red band and green band. The last unmarked pic is a hen bending forward pecking in the same position, to compare.
