Boy or Girl? Americauna chick photos...

[stevemaller]

4+ month old Americauna raised from a 2-day old chick. Hasn't crowed yet, but size and behavior and appearance are leaning towards a rooster. Please help us figure out if our Alice is actually Alice Cooper!

One of the photos you'll see is of the two Americaunas we have (both the same age), and what's interesting is how much larger the white one ("Alice") is than the brown one ("Edie"). That's what's most obvious.

PS: It seems I can't post photos here yet, so please come look at my latest blog post at maller.com/chickens and post your comments here.

Thank you!

 

[cozycritters]

Looks like a roo to me

 

[justmeandtheflock]

Alice is an Easter Egger Cockeral and the other is an Easter Egger Pullet.

 

[mom2jedi]

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He's lovely though, are you sure you have to give him up? I've heard that EE roos are generally pretty friendly. Don't have one myself as DH doesn't want any boys so can't speak from experience.

 

[stevemaller]

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He's lovely though, are you sure you have to give him up? I've heard that EE roos are generally pretty friendly. Don't have one myself as DH doesn't want any boys so can't speak from experience.

Yes, he's a spectacular bird, but the local authorities specifically prohibit roosters in backyards. I can imagine it's only a matter of time before this one starts welcoming the dawn in the way that his brethren like doing. So far he's not doing that, but it's inevitable, right?

 

[mom2jedi]

Quote:
He's lovely though, are you sure you have to give him up? I've heard that EE roos are generally pretty friendly. Don't have one myself as DH doesn't want any boys so can't speak from experience.

Yes, he's a spectacular bird, but the local authorities specifically prohibit roosters in backyards. I can imagine it's only a matter of time before this one starts welcoming the dawn in the way that his brethren like doing. So far he's not doing that, but it's inevitable, right?

Yes, all roosters will crow. You may want to wait till he starts to see how loud he is. Some boys are not very loud just depends on the bird. It also depends on your neighbors, if he only crows once a day they may not mind so much especially if you give them eggs once in a while. Not that I am advocating breaking the rules but you've already spent the time and money on him getting him to this point so if you can keep him, you will have fertile eggs eventually that would mean more chicks down the road... trust me chickens are addictive! Somehow I ended up with 21... and I started with 10 and I wouldn't mind a few more silkies.

 

[stevemaller]

Shauna,

I appreciate what you're saying, but we're just getting started with all this, and I don't think we want/need the complication and stress of skirting the local authorities and our neighbors, as well as dealing with the possibility of fertile eggs, etc.

Plus, I just found a new home for him with a fellow who's starting his own flock in another part of the area here where he's allowed to do that. So at least Alice Cooper gets to pass on his genes, instead of just being somebody's dinner!

 

[Illia]

Alice is a boy, and not an Ameraucana (no i) but instead an Easter Egger.

 

[donrae]

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I totally understand needing to get rid of your roo, but I just wanted to point out you don't need to "deal" with the possibility of fertile eggs. You just eat them!

 

[stevemaller]

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Fair enough. I'm learning every day!
Thank you.