Bantam Wyandotte Gender?

[Faverolle Lover]

I have a five week old bantam golden-laced-blue Wyandotte chick that I'm not sure what it's gender is. Whether or not it's a boy or girl I'm keeping it, as my v current polish rooster (as sweet as he is) is ruining make fair birds' feathers and will sadly be culled this summer (he was getting old already, but I'm still a bit sad that I can't rehome him)
I've heard from multiple friends that their bantam roos were nice and didn't ruin hen feathers as much, is it true? I've only had one bantam roo before and I hello him a lot from day one but as soon as he was five months old he would grab onto my game and tug, and not it a cute way (he was a silkie too!) If this one ends up being a roo and does that, is there anything I can do to take him up or is that just a behavior that is unchangeable?

 

[Cyprus]

I want to say cockerel

 

[MochaDuck]

I don't know how to fix rooster behavior, but it may help to separate it from hens. Completely.

As for gender, you may have to wait a week or so for more accurate results. The comb is small, but bright. Small comb is a sign of pullet, bright comb I think is a sign of cock.

 

[MagpieDucks]

I say cockerel. Also, try not handling him as much, it might make him less used to you. There are quite a few articles on rooster taming on here.

 

[sylviethecochin]

The comb is rather red, but that's normal for Wyandotte chicks of both sexes. I purchased four sexed pullets last spring (impulse buy, shame on me) and was soon convinced that not only had I gotten mislabelled straight-run chicks, and not only that, but had somehow picked four cockerels.

It didn't help when the single silver developed a completely upright, curving tail.

So I did some research.

Wyandottes are slow feathering. Due to the sexlinked nature of that particular gene, particularly slow-feathering chicks are usually male. (Check tail/back feather growth)

Wyandotte cockerels have messy shoulder feathers. Their patterns don't come in clearly, and eventually develop into pure silver shoulders. Pullets have much neater lacing on their shoulders. This may not be obvious until 8-10 weeks of age.

As with all chicken breeds I know, males usually have larger feet.

Frankly, it's hard to tell what your chick is. Blue and gold does not contrast half so well as black and gold. A standing side picture would be really helpful. So would a comparison chick from the same breeding flock. But from what I can currently see, my guess would be pullet.

 

[Alexandra33]

It's not outside of the realm of possibility you have a pullet. Dottes oftentimes begin reddening up early. I'm on the fence at this point. Are you able to update us in another few weeks? Such an adorable baby!

Bantam roosters can still become aggressive and tear their hens apart, if it's within their nature to do so. As far as raising him "correctly," I'm weary of giving an opposing opinion in a world where bullying/dominating a cockerel is the preferred answer (and what many of the hailed BYC articles instruct). All I can say is: the only place you truly CAN go wrong is by assuming the behavior of a rooster, by challenging his authority, and by creating fear. This means hitting, kicking, use of sharp objects, chasing, inhibiting inherent behavior such as eating/crowing in your presence, and fighting back when he decides to show aggression. I've learned the hard way. Yes, advice may seem helpful on the surface.....but there's no guarantee anything we suggest will prove effective. It's far better to try several methods, keep an open mind, and decide what works for YOU. Personal experience is golden. I trust it far more than any article or post.

~Alex

 

[ChickNanny13]

Guessing cockerel but so pretty, love laced Wyandottes

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

It's too young to tell the gender. Post pics of the comb at 8 weeks.

As for aggressiveness, i do not suggest holding it a lot, if you want it to leave you alone. If it's scared of you, it won't think to attack you. Most always, rooster chicks will be more tame towards humans, until they get around 14 weeks or so, then since they are so familiar with you, and aren't scared of you, they begin to want to dominate you, and get aggressive. Yes, there is a way to stop this, I've done it myself. If you are curious, now, or if the time comes, you can PM me. (I'm just not going to type it all out here)

 

[Ladybird CA]

I think the pretty little one is a rooster

 

[Faverolle Lover]

I'll be sure to get a few pics here in a few weeks, thank you all so much!
He/she/it was the only Wyandotte that I bought.... But here's a pic with Tanzanite, my old English game of the same age (99.99% sure it's a girl) and a pic of his back feathers, Opal seems to be feathering in at about the same rate as everyone else, but I haven't really done this for years with wyandottes and they were standard and a completely different color.
Thanks again!