BCM 11 wks old...male or female?

[greengravy]

I know that bcm's can sometimes be tricky (up until the day they either crow or lay an egg). This one is 11 wks. old & doesn't have that big of a comb for it's age & it's not very red in color either (which is typical of a bcm cockerel at this age), so not sure if it's a cockerel with a small pink comb, or a pullet with a big comb.


Please let me know if you have any experience raising bcm's or not when you respond. thanks!

thanks for any help anyone can offer.

 

[hdowden]

its a cockerel

 

[Whittni]

It looks rumpless? Hmm, I thought girl at first because it reminded me of my old maran and black sexlink hens. But its almost 3 months old so I say wait for an egg or a crow, because usually the tails are a giveaway on marans. But those waddles are huge...

Very strange.

 

[greengravy]

haha! yeah, I'm stumped on this one too. I have seen bcm cockerels that have the same size comb or larger at 4 wks old! So, if it is a cockerel then it is "behind" in growing it's comb (as far as how it should look according to it's age compared to other cockerels). But, this one isn't very red either & usually they get real red if it's a cockerel. The tail is there, as there is a coccyx there (so it's not araucana crossed), but no feathers on the tail, which is odd to me too. The tail feathers still haven't come in, or maybe they are getting pecked off by others.

I have a bcm 2 yr. old hen & she has a huge comb & wattles (some people think she is a rooster), but she is my only adult bcm & she lays me beautiful dark brown eggs & doesn't crow, so the bcm's can be kind of tricky. I'm so curious to know though! thanks

 

[hdowden]

i'm going by coloring and thats a cockerels coloring and right now he already has way to much copper as well

 

[greengravy]

yeah, that makes sense, with how much copper there is there. There is a LOT of copper there, but I wasn't sure if more or less copper will help indicate anything. thanks!

 

[ChickenExtreme]

its a cockerel

X 2, Is he getting his tail feathers plucked by other chickens?

 

[greengravy]

I haven't witnessed any pecking going on. They get along well.

 

[ChickenExtreme]

I haven't witnessed any pecking going on. They get along well.

Maybe early molt

 

[onthespot]

You won't have to wait for it to lay an egg. Keep parting the feathers on the back, and if it is a cockerel, you will see bright orange/mahogany feather tips sprouting there, pointy ended ones at that. If you see any mahogany colored feathers sprouting on the shoulders of the wing bend, those are for sure masculine traits as well. Right now, I'm going to say roo, but it is very he-she looking. Not all roos are early bloomers. I have had pullets with way more red on their chests as well. If you have better colored birds to choose from, you should not breed this one. The color is all wrong. The good thing is... they all taste like chicken! Yum!. If it is a pullet, she should do fine as an egg layer, but I would not incubate her eggs. Ever. Well... unless you crossed her on an ee or ameraucana or something and wanted olive eggers.