Betty and Veronica RIR's - or Bernard and Veronica??

[OutlawAlice]

Here's a couple pics I took this afternoon while they were mud wrestling. Betty seems to have sprouted larger black tail feathers while Veronica's are still red and stubby. Betty's comb is plump and bright red, and her wattles are larger, longer and floppier. I've been reading that both can still be present in hens, but there's a REALLY big difference.

Sorry the pics aren't great. They don't stand still for anything. They're either rolling in dirt or mud, or they're kung fu fighting.







Any education and thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[sourland]

I believe that you have Bernard and Vernon.

 

[OutlawAlice]

So they BOTH might be roos??

How can you tell? What do I look for?

HOA only allows me to keep hens. I'm even concerned about my EE's.

 

[five is my dog]

there combs are larger are they rhode island reds? my RIR hens have just a small red line on there fore head if they are RIR they are deffinetely roos

 

[Fred's Hens]

Did I miss where you said how old they are?

 

[OutlawAlice]

Yep. Roos they must be. Also looking like one of my EE's is also a roo. Four birds and only one is female. My luck.

The farm where I got them is gonna do some swapping. He has a solid white 8 week chick he'll swap for Wilma/Wilbur. Who is in this pic. Note the huge tail fan and the pinking up comb.

 

[OutlawAlice]

Did I miss where you said how old they are?

The RIR's are approximately 12 to 13 weeks old. My EE's are 5 weeks old.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Then rest assured they are very likely cockerels. Cockerels sprout combs and wattles at 9 weeks. Do you remember? Pullets generally don't "show" much red comb or wattles until 15 weeks or later.

Good photos of them standing would show us for certain. Based on the combs and wattles at 11 weeks? Those are clear cockerel features.

 

[OutlawAlice]

I haven't gotten a clear standing pic of them. But they've started "play fighting." I'll be swapping them out. I assume this happens pretty often when you're buying straight run. I figured I'd get maybe one, but three out of four? Niiice. I'm kinda disappointed since I'd started getting attached, but they're going to a farm were they can grow up.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Actually, if you cannot have cockerels because of a HOA restriction, the last thing you should do is pick from a straight run bin. Those are overwhelmingly cockerels.

If you have a no rooster ordinance, always choose sexed chicks. Even then you might get a cockerel, but the odds fall to 10% or less. Sorry about having to find them new places.