Cream Legbar Pullet or Cockerel

[Liv_Kenn]

My family and I got day old chicks from a local hatchery back in August. We paid for what was supposed to be a Cream Legbar pullet chick, and we’re told it was a KNOWN pullet because they’re auto-sexing. Well, Patty started looking suspicious right out of the gate with large, bright comb & wattles, but we opted to be patient and wait it out…well my son said he caught Patty crowing this morning

This past weekend we had picked up a couple more chicks from the same hatchery and decided to get another CL pullet (we were very specific to order a pullet). Now that Patty, is now Patrick, I’m concerned our new CL chick is actually a cockerel As it looks very similar to Pat as a chick.

Do you think the new chick is a pullet? Did we get duped twice or is this a common mix up? We are newbies to chicken raising, but I would think a reputable hatchery would know the difference in an auto-sexing breed. I attached pictures of the new CL chick and Pat as a new chick for reference.

 

[Liv_Kenn]

How old is Patty/Patrick now? I see the 4 week pic, is that the most recent? I would say based on comb growth alone that I lean more towards a cockerel, but it might be too early to tell.

Oh shoot, the current pictures of Pat didn’t load. Thanks for catching that. Pat is 9 weeks old, here are pictures from today:

 

[NatJ]

How old is Patty/Patrick now? I see the 4 week pic, is that the most recent? I would say based on comb growth alone that I lean more towards a cockerel, but it might be too early to tell.

Since "Patty" looks like a cockerel, AND was crowing, I am very confident that he is a cockerel!

I’m concerned our new CL chick is actually a cockerel As it looks very similar to Pat as a chick.

Pat as a chick, and the new chick, were the correct color to be Cream Legbar pullets.
The cockerel chicks are supposed to be a lighter shade of gray-brown and have a pale dot on their heads.

So there is hope that your new chick is a pullet, as it is supposed to be. But because Pat was the wrong color, I would not entirely trust the new one until it grows up enough to make the gender obvious.

Cream Legbars are supposed to be autosexing, but obviously it is possible for a hatchery to produce ones where the sexing doesn't work right

I would think a reputable hatchery would know the difference in an auto-sexing breed.

I might think so too, but apparently not. Although if they buy their eggs or parent stock from a breeder, it might be mostly the breeder's fault (but partly the hatchery's fault for trusting the breeder.)

 

[FeatherTay]

He is male. Not good with auto sexing

 

[cherrynberry]

Oh shoot, the current pictures of Pat didn’t load. Thanks for catching that. Pat is 9 weeks old, here are pictures from today:

Yup, cockerel

 

[cherrynberry]

Oh shoot, the current pictures of Pat didn’t load. Thanks for catching that. Pat is 9 weeks old, here are pictures from today:

I would wait a while for the other chick. Some lines may not be too great with the autosexing "feature"

 

[PRchick]

I have experience with CL and usually the stripe has to be unbroken from the head to the body. You really need to see them together, but the females are darker and the stripe is a lot more defined. But sometimes the auto-sexing does not work too well. I just hatched six and I was certain I had 3 boys and 2 girls. The sixth was iffy because the stripe was broken and not as dark, but still pretty defined, but there was not a lighter patch on the head. I wish I had taken pictures. I counted it as a pullet and now that they are 6 weeks old, I have been able to confirm because the cockerels have very noticeable combs and wattles and the pullets don't. It is also my experience that their combs and wattles show very early.

By 6 weeks or earlier you will see a comb an wattles if it is a cockerel, just like you could with Pat at 4 weeks.

 

[WIchickMama]

How old is Patty/Patrick now? I see the 4 week pic, is that the most recent? I would say based on comb growth alone that I lean more towards a cockerel, but it might be too early to tell.

 

[WIchickMama]

Since "Patty" looks like a cockerel, AND was crowing, I am very confident that he is a cockerel!

Pullets/hens can crow rare but they can or make a crow-ish sound

 

[WIchickMama]

Yup, cockerel

yep agreed---he is really pretty