Buff Orpington Gender Help (Edited for my mistake)

[HeatherKellyB]

Hi friends! I'm hoping to get some help from you wonderful people. I ordered the City Town Female Special from Cackle Hatchery. The special included buyers choice of 3 Pullets. I chose a buff Orpington, a barred rock, and a wyandotte. They all arrived bright eyed, wide open, and chirping, with an extra of each breed. The 6 sweet (mostly) birds are 3 weeks old today. One of the buff Orpington's seems to really bully the other 5. It seems to enjoy nipping the others for no apparent reason and it's targeted at all of them, not any 1 or 2 in particular. I am new to this and have read about chickens having a pecking order, but this just seems almost extreme. In the past 2 to 3 days, this bird has had some really noticeable changes in appearance and I'm wondering if Cackle sent me a cockerel (which I understand it happens). What do you think? Also, does Cackle Hatchery use cockerels for their extra birds? Just to state before I make anyone think otherwise, I've had a wonderful experience with Cackle Hatchery and honestly have absolutely no complaints. I was really surprised to receive 6 birds in my order of 3, so I know I am lucky if I have extra pullets

Edited for incorrect terminology (cockerel not rooster) Thank you

 

[HeatherKellyB]

This is the other buff orpington

 

[LizzzyJo]

Unfortunately it’s too early to tell on orpingtons. I would call the hatchery and ask if the extra chicks could be straight run. Males at this age aren’t any more aggressive than many females. You probably just have a snotty girl she may calm down in time and be nice.

I am concerned that they doubled your order without your knowledge. Maybe one extra, but 50% extra is odd. How could they have known that you could accommodate 6? It’s strange.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thank you for your reply. The forming red wattles and red starting in the comb really concerned me. *To share my backstory, I purchased 3 chicks that my daughter helped/watched hatch in her class (she's 7 & in 2nd grade). They're 7 weeks old now and after learning as much as I could and posting their pictures here, they all seem to be cockerels. Since this is our first time and my daughter will be helping out, I would rather have a flock of hens only. The 3 cockerels are still with us but will be joining my in-laws flock once they're bigger and I hear that definite obvious crow. They're still young and I really worry about them joining a large flock & of course my daughter and I love them, even though we both know what's to come, unless they prove us wrong.
Thankfully I do have room for the extra birds sent. I believe they only sent that many extra because I added a note to my order saying that I had a difficult time deciding between the 3 birds I ordered and a speckled Sussex & a salmon favorelle. I noted that saying that I really wish they'd offer this same special but with 3 or 5 birds (with obvious price differences). I didn't expect that my order would be doubled based on that, but we have fallen in love with them all, even with little Miss/Mr. Sassy Butt, hahaha

Edited to fix terminology

 

[cstephens1987]

I'd be shocked if the first chick isn't a cockerel with that comb size and wattle color already at 3 weeks

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I'd be shocked if the first chick isn't a cockerel with that comb size and wattle color already at 3 weeks

That's exactly what I was thinking, but I was hoping that I was just looking for a worry because of the fact that my very first chicks were all cockerels

 

[Cyprus]

That first chick is 100% a cockerel.

 

[Cyprus]

Oh and young male chickens are called cockerels, not roosters. They aren't roosters until they're over a year old.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Oh and young male chickens are called cockerels, not roosters. They aren't roosters until they're over a year old.

That was my mistake in the subject line (and anywhere else). Believe it or not, I actually knew that but multitasking really seems to highlight any weaknesses. I did not know what age they turned into roosters, so thank you for that clarity

 

[HeatherKellyB]

That first chick is 100% a cockerel.

Well, I'm not surprised but it definitely saddens me and makes me wonder about the rest of the chicks, especially the extras. Hopefully Cackle Hatchery got the others correct. I really appreciate your input. If I don't plan on keeping any cockerels, do I need to find another age appropriate flock for him to join sooner rather than later? I only ask because my three 7 week old cockerels cry out for each other if they can't see one of them. Maybe I am putting too many "human feelings" into this, and it's just how they live & find members of their flock. It just sounds so sad