Can anyone tell?

[Adrienne-m]

Chicks are 7 weeks old. Meatball has been the oddball since day 1. We had them sexed at hatching but that of course was not 100%. She (he?) is tolerant of people and will eat from my hand and come close to check me out but hates being held. She has never seemed to be at the top of the pecking order although she has moments where she tries. She actually seems to be somewhere near the bottom. I keep thinking she may be a he because she seems so different but she is also the only one in the flock that looks like she does. Can anyone tell at all? Meatball is the white one

 

[Adrienne-m]

Chicks are 7 weeks old. Meatball has been the oddball since day 1. We had them sexed at hatching but that of course was not 100%. She (he?) is tolerant of people and will eat from my hand and come close to check me out but hates being held. She has never seemed to be at the top of the pecking order although she has moments where she tries. She actually seems to be somewhere near the bottom. I keep thinking she may be a he because she seems so different but she is also the only one in the flock that looks like she does. Can anyone tell at all? Meatball is the white one

I should note that she is the only of my three EEs that has started getting a comb...the comb is pinker than my orpingtons and barred rocks and thicker but not really red.

 

[Adrienne-m]

Here is a closer up

 

[Mamatomany123]

Cockerel

 

[Adrienne-m]

Cockerel

I’m worried that’s the case. I would love to have a rooster if it was tolerant of humans but can’t have a mean one. She/he is already kind of a bully to the others

 

[Adrienne-m]

I’m worried that’s the case. I would love to have a rooster if it was tolerant of humans but can’t have a mean one. She/he is already kind of a bully to the others

Any advice how to get a rooster not to be a jerk? We have elementary aged (7 and 5) kids and I work in pediatric medicine and have had too many patients get attacked by roosters at home

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

He's a cockerel sorry I have noticed that keeping them friendly but a bit more distant to you than the hens helps instill healthy respect and shows you're not a chicken too. A lot of it though in my experience is the genetics. Good breeders have given me my favorite roosters, while my one nasty one was from a hatchery. Hatcheries don't interact personally with parent stock as often like breeders do who care about temperament and body type for show or preserving a breed. Reprimand feistiness while he's still young, don't let him peck at fingers even if it's not harmful now. I gently hold them until they go still after this sort of behavior. I have had so many more cockerels with awesome temperaments than my one cockerel who would attack. Probably ratio of 30:1. Don't worry! More are good than bad!

 

[Adrienne-m]

He's a cockerel sorry ☹ I have noticed that keeping them friendly but a bit more distant to you than the hens helps instill healthy respect and shows you're not a chicken too. A lot of it though in my experience is the genetics. Good breeders have given me my favorite roosters, while my one nasty one was from a hatchery. Hatcheries don't interact personally with parent stock as often like breeders do who care about temperament and body type for show or preserving a breed. Reprimand feistiness while he's still young, don't let him peck at fingers even if it's not harmful now. I gently hold them until they go still after this sort of behavior. I have had so many more cockerels with awesome temperaments than my one cockerel who would attack. Probably ratio of 30:1. Don't worry! More are good than bad!

So he/she doesn’t peck anything on me
Or the kids unless we’re feeding treats from hand and then the pecking is just eating. He/she does peck my boots once in a while but as soon as I pay attention he runs away. When bullying the girls I usually just give a firm “Meatball stop” and that usually does the trick. I’m going to hold out hope for a non-jerk rooster as long as I can

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

Yeah, sometimes they peck out of curiosity, looking at a little speck of dirt on your boots and the like. Don't stress about it! I feel that the individual temperament is out of your control and if he's nice, he's nice and if he's aggressive, he's aggressive. You obviously don't want to promote aggression, bu at this point it's a waiting game. Odds are, he'll turn out in your favor too