Do you think this is a Halene or a Howard?

[Chick-a-dow-dee]

This is a chicken i named Halene (after my grandmother, she and my grandfather called each other "chiicken" as pet names) To me she looked like a perfect example of a hen. Her body did not develop like the other two birds that I KNOW are roos.

Halene is the brown one.

This is Frank (named for my grandfather) definitely a roo.

and this is George, the other roo.

Frank, George and Halene were sold as Ameracaunas but we all know that means an EEs. I think Halene is a RIR or PR mixed with EE.

I also have five Buff Orps which are all definitely pullets, and four white Bantams: 2 roos, two hens. I have to keep the Bantams in a separate coop as there is much drama in my hen house. The EEs and the BOs were purchased February 15th and were around a week to a week and a half old when I brought them home. The Bantams followed about a month later.

These pictures were taken in early May so they've all grown even more since then. My question is do you think Halene is a Howard?

Here's some more pix again from May I'll post more recent ones soon.

Halene and George

Frank

Another thing I noticed is that George and Halene were always together, and I thought good because I'd like him to sire a liter (can you say that with chickens?) with her. However, lately the drama centers around George and Halene. Halene is hateful to all the pullets and George is hateful to everyone including me. But they both love to be hand fed and have their ears rubbed. Halene never tries to bite me but she did try to feign something like a crow a couple of weeks ago, but it really sounded like an asthma attack. She hasn't done it since, but she doesn't hang out with my other girls like she used to. To keep George from being mean to her I keep her in the coop while the other free range, well yes, bedtime is filled with trauma when I try to bring in the others at night. What to do?

Any advice?

 

[donrae]

How old is Halene? If they're all roughly the same age, I'm pretty sure Halene is a speckeled Sussex cockerel.

Get rid of a bunch of roosters and your flock will be drama free. Keep one and sell or eat the rest.

 

[Chick-a-dow-dee]

Ugh, do SS have big feet, her/his are enormous. Frodo Baggins would be jealous. She/he is about 4 1/2 months old, that pix shows h/h at 3 1/2 mos.

 

[missnu01]

This is a chicken i named Halene (after my grandmother, she and my grandfather called each other "chiicken" as pet names) To me she looked like a perfect example of a hen. Her body did not develop like the other two birds that I KNOW are roos.

Halene is the brown one.

This is Frank (named for my grandfather) definitely a roo.

and this is George, the other roo.

Frank, George and Halene were sold as Ameracaunas but we all know that means an EEs. I think Halene is a RIR or PR mixed with EE.

I also have five Buff Orps which are all definitely pullets, and four white Bantams: 2 roos, two hens. I have to keep the Bantams in a separate coop as there is much drama in my hen house. The EEs and the BOs were purchased February 15th and were around a week to a week and a half old when I brought them home. The Bantams followed about a month later.

These pictures were taken in early May so they've all grown even more since then. My question is do you think Halene is a Howard?

Here's some more pix again from May I'll post more recent ones soon.

Halene and George

Frank

Another thing I noticed is that George and Halene were always together, and I thought good because I'd like him to sire a liter (can you say that with chickens?) with her. However, lately the drama centers around George and Halene. Halene is hateful to all the pullets and George is hateful to everyone including me. But they both love to be hand fed and have their ears rubbed. Halene never tries to bite me but she did try to feign something like a crow a couple of weeks ago, but it really sounded like an asthma attack. She hasn't done it since, but she doesn't hang out with my other girls like she used to. To keep George from being mean to her I keep her in the coop while the other free range, well yes, bedtime is filled with trauma when I try to bring in the others at night. What to do?

Any advice?

I didn't see a girl in any of those pictures.

 

[donrae]

Yeah, at that age that's all cockerel. Gotta say, things aren't going to get nicer with your roosters and your young hens. 5 pullets and 3 roosters is a recipe for some ganged-up on hens

 

[missnu01]

Anytime a bird this young has a big comb and waddles it's a rooster.

 

[Chick-a-dow-dee]

Oh yay, happy me!

 

[BantamLover21]

Both of them look like cockerels to me.

 

[Chick-a-dow-dee]

So my next two questions are: how old do they need to be before they're "processed for food" and are roosters good eating?

 

[missnu01]

So my next two questions are: how old do they need to be before they're "processed for food" and are roosters good eating?

It really depends on the breed when they are ready, but really it is up to you. If it's a very large fowl like a buff orpington I like to eat them before they crow... and if I don't get to them before crowing starts then I wait until their new cockerel hormones wear off a bit. Because to me trying to eat a teenage rooster is like trying to eat a rubber covered rock. They are nothing but lean muscle...hard to even process them sometimes. So I either eat them around 4-5 months, or around 18-whenever. All that testosterone being dumped in their bodies when they hit chicken puberty makes them tough and taste weird if you ask me. Many people would disagree, but that is my opinion. Gotta get them before the hormones hit, or once they start to subside. It's always the teenage ones that need a trip to the chopping block because again, testosterone is no joke. Makes things go a little crazy... aggressive, excited...
I wonder if a person ate enough teenage roosters would it be like taking extra testosterone? Wake up with a deep voice a beard, muscles, a ton of energy, a compulsion to work out, and random fits of intense anger and over reactions to stimuli... lol. Nah I don't think that would happen...