Dumb question

[Patoot]

Quote:
Well these "girls" are right at 4 months or so, so maybe that's it???

One is MUCH more vocal than the others. No rooster sound, but very gutteral where the other ones are much quieter. She came with no tail, but now has a ton of feathers coming in. Please tell me they are all girls. When will I know for sure? Don't say, when they lay an egg either.

If she's a he, when will the 'he' come out for sure? If I have 3 eggs, I still won't know for sure.

Bree

 

[Patoot]

I went out and looked at them and they all have black feathers in their tails and around the base of their neck. The feathers around the neck (I think those are the saddle feathers, but I don't know) all look the same among them. While I was out with them, I noticed the other big one also makes more noise. It's by no means a lot. The only time I hear them is when I step outside and they run to me, when I leave, and if I gave them treats and ran out of them. Normally they are all extremely quiet. Much quieter than I thought they would be.

Girls?

Bree

 

[WhetzelMomma]

Quote:
You'll know "for SURE" if any of them start crowing. I'd venture to say it's too early to tell. From the looks of your photos, I think you have a good chance they are girls! I had a Golden Sex Link that really worried me for a while... lol Turns out one of them just has a bigger comb, and more curvy tail feathers. They are both girls.

and they both lay the prettiest brown eggs.

Just for you to see... I have a RIR... and SHE just started laying too!! Check out her beautiful red comb!

My Rhode Island Red by Whetzel Momma, on Flickr

 

[TheMainException]

No, saddle feathers are about where you would put a saddle on a chicken kind of. Check this picture out for a better idea:
http://www.urbanfarmstore.com/storage/roohen.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1247172012821

You see the male has very pointy feathers there and the female's are short and rounded? That's a dead give away for a roo, those nice pointy saddle feathers (far from the neck).

The dominant female could make as much noise as a dominant male (unless it begins truly crowing of course, then there's no tie in that race).

 

[Patoot]

Oh I see. I thought it was weird that saddle feathers would be by the neck. Okay, she for sure has rounded ones there. Phew! I know I will need to wait and see, but I think they are all girls. Her legs are a little bigger, but she is just a little bigger in general, as is the other older looking one. I'll see if I can somehow get perfect pics for you to see, but she won't stay still and just tries to follow me. She was at the back door most of the late evening because she wanted to follow me. Is that cute, or what? Of course, now there is poop at my back door. Oh well, that's what hoses are for.

Thanks for the reassurance! Her combs are definitely smaller than your pretty lady.

Bree

 

[WhetzelMomma]

Yep. Some of my girls have BEAUTIFUL pointy feathers around their necks. Roosters take it a step further, and have them on their rear ends too!! lol

 

[Patoot]

I will take better pics tomorrow...or try to anyway. Does it mean boy if there are green/black feathers in the wings, around the neck, and in the tail? They seem to all have a little of that, but the biggest one came with no tail feather and now that they are growing in, some are that greenish black color. I'm being paranoid. The truth is, I don't really know the age of the girls. The rancher just said they were pullets and should be laying by the end of September. I don't know if all 4 are from the same mom or if they are the same age or not. If they are the same age, then I probably have 2 hens and 2 roosters because 2 are much bigger and more developed than the other 2. I would like to think that the rancher (who has hundreds of birds) would be able to tell the difference, but I'm sure it's not fool proof. In comparison to lots of other RIR though, I'm hoping he can tell the difference.

Not knowing is really bothering me. Ugh. Maybe new pics will help you help me...though if we don't know the age, is it really hard to tell? I'm almost positive that there are no saddle feathers on any of them. I looked hard and compared it to pics I've seen on here. Also, the hackle feathers aren't pointy either.

Thanks.

Bree

 

[Gallina Vecchia]

Yours look like hens to me, but I am no expert. Just going by what my RIRs look like. Our rooster now is old enough (20 weeks) to not only crow, but stamp his feet and grumble at me when I pet the girls and pick up eggs. Here are some pictures from about a month ago. Maybe this will help.

 

[Patoot]

Your pics do show the difference. What worries me is that is similar to what I am seeing comb/wattle wise, though I just feel like 2 are older than the other 2, but I can't be sure. I don't see any of the hackle/saddle feather traits of a roo. It's just the combs that worried me, but I guess RIR can have larger/redder ones, and it's possible these girls are just older. I'll try really hard to get a close up and I'll take it with my camera instead of my phone.

Thanks.

Bree

 

[WhetzelMomma]

The black feathers don't mean anything. My hen has those.