Can you spot a roo in our flock?

LemonberryMoon

In the Brooder
6 Years
Apr 6, 2013
76
8
43
We have heard sad attempts at crowing on two occasions, but didn't see who it was. These girls were bought as pullets, but we all know there are still chances at getting a rooster. They are four weeks old now. Can anyone see any signs that point to a rooster?

#1 is Spud. Listed as an Ameraucana/Araucana/EE. Based on personality this would be my top suspect. She is at the top of the ranks and comes to the rescue if any of the other girls start crying for any reason, but she also has the smallest (almost non-existent) comb. She is one of the biggest.




#2 Melisha. Listed as an Ameraucana/Araucana/EE. Shares top ranks with Spud.



#3 Click. Listed as Welsummer. Noisiest one of the bunch.



#4 Sparta. Listed as Welsummer



#5 Goldie. Listed as Golden Sex linked. Smallest of the bunch.



#6 Chloe. Listed as Golden Sex Linked.



#7 Nugget. Listed as an Ameraucana/Araucana/EE. Flighty, especially around the dogs and runs to my lap when something scares her. Biggest tail, low on the ranks.



They are all very sweet, I hope they were just mocking men and not revealing themselves as so.....
idunno.gif
 
I think it is an EE who is crowing because many of them notoriously crow early (4-8 weeks). Which one it is, is hard for me to say yet. If I had to put money on one of them right now, it would be #7 based on tail carriage and overall look. Look for bright red patches of feathers appearing on their wings/shoulders. Red usually means rooster in EE.
 
Also - look at all of the EE combs. Do any of them have three rows of "peas" for their comb? At that age, another sign of a cockerel.
 
I think it is an EE who is crowing because many of them notoriously crow early (4-8 weeks). Which one it is, is hard for me to say yet. If I had to put money on one of them right now, it would be #7 based on tail carriage and overall look. Look for bright red patches of feathers appearing on their wings/shoulders. Red usually means rooster in EE.
Roos develop their tails much slower than pullets - I'd say almost definitely that #7 is a pullet.
 
Last edited:
Absolutely no signs of any roosters in that flock. The salmon breasts on the EE's and Welsummers almost guarantee that they are pullets. The RSL are pullets, of course. Right now I'm not sure that what you're hearing is crowing! 4 weeks is very early. They may be giving female alarm calls instead. If there are males, they will show themselves at 5-8 weeks.
 
Roos develop their tails much slower than pullets - I'd say almost definitely that #7 is a pullet.

That generalization may be true with some individuals, but my EE cockerel has the largest and most erect tail of any of my EEs. I think most slow to feather birds are cockerels, but not all cockerels are slow to feather.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom