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.

 

[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.

 

[FeatherTay]

He is male. Not good with auto sexing

 

[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.)

 

[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:

 

[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

 

[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

 

[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"

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Patty is a Cockerel, though coloring is not quite right. Unfortunately, many of the large hatcheries’ Crested Cream Legbars are not reliably auto sexing anymore. This happens when birds are bred for a quantity and not quality.