Does this RIR still look like a ROO to YOU?

[mradam]

One of my almost 8 week old chicks is really looking different now. She(hopefully) is smaller and slightly lighter in color from the others. Nothing different in behavior, just smaller. Also, comb is a little bigger and has more pink to it.


Center front:

On right:

On the left front:


On left:



Either way I'm keeping her/him, I'm just curious what everyone else thinks.

Thanks!
Adam

 

[ticks]

he is 8 weekls you said? he should have huge wattles by now so i'msaying hen but i'm no expert.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I'm going with hen too...should have huge red comb and wattles by that age...my RIR cockerals were alot larger than the pullets..

 

[ebonykawai]

That's a pullet. My RIRs are from heritage breeders and very slow to mature. My cockeral doesn't have huge anything, lol, and he's not bigger than the pullets yet, but he does look markedly different in his carriage and tail area. And his comb is redder than the girls and bigger. Also, his face area is red and so are his wattles. You definitely have a girl.

 

[Vamp-A-Billy Princess]

My youngest RIRs are about 4 or 5 weeks and one of the two suddenly had a big pink comb yesterday. It made the other look like it didnt even have a comb. It was really obvious. I say yours are female.

 

[mradam]

Thank God you all are thinking she's a SHE! I won't get rid of any of them because of gender, but one roo to three hens isn't very fair to the roo. I'm glad to hear that. Thanks for everyone's opinion!

Adam

 

[scgamecock]

RIR's are tough because some pullets will develop large wattles and a large comb at an early age.If you keep an eye on them the first two weeks usually the pullets will feather out much faster.It's not 100% foolproof but it's close.Can you see any evidence of saddle feather's coming yet?

 

[ebonykawai]

Quote:
Yes, exactly! They can be tough. My 2 month old roo is slower to feather out so I see no roo-type feathers yet. And his sister has a redder comb than my other pullets but she's from a different breeder than them. The differences are subtle, but if you spend a good amount of time with them, you will notice a LOT and then sort of instinctively know who's a boy and who's a girl. My youngsters, though, are rose comb and I'm still in the dark with them, lol. Over 5 weeks old and I haven't a clue. They feathered out at a 'normal' pace and they have no combs at all at the moment

so....I just can't tell. I'm pretty sure of one of them, mainly because of his legs. That's about it.

 

[TheyThinkI'mTheirMom]

We hope we have 4 hens and 1 rooster, but the aggressive behavior -- pushing off their chests [they look like pro basketball players] and squaring off -- has us worried. The girls are 7 weeks old, Harry the Rooster is 6 weeks old.
Several years ago, we bought 4 chicks that were sold to us as hens. All turned out to be roosters, and behaved this way. So we're starting to get worried.
We love RIR and think they are great layers.
Has anyone noticed sex by behavior with chicks?

 

[ebonykawai]

They all do the chest bump thing. It's a part of pecking order.

My roo behaves pretty much like the girls, though he has started doing a herding thing lately. But no, he's not aggressive or any different from the girls. Actually, he was behind in development, especially feathering, and so he flew worse than them. He also seems to take part less in dust baths.