EE and White Leghorn cross

[Chick Phil A]

Any guesses on the first pic? It's visually halfway between the known hens and known males (pics 2 and 3 respectively) but doesn't have any noticeable behavior pattern.

18wks old.

 

[donrae]

I'm thinking cockerel, but do you have a body/profile shot?

 

[Chick Phil A]

Thanks, body shots

 

[donrae]

Oh yeah, cockerel. That's one of the best pictures of saddle feathers on a white bird I've seen

 

[junebuggena]

 

[Chick Phil A]

Thanks, that's awful news... 75% +/- were male. Difficult to bulk up my layer flock when my rooster insists on making more roosters!

 

[junebuggena]

It's not the rooster's fault. For chickens, it's the hens that are the problem.

 

[goldie1234]

It's not the rooster's fault. For chickens, it's the hens that are the problem.

Really?

 

[drumstick diva]

I didn't know that

 

[QueenMisha]

Really?

Yeah, in chickens the chromosomes are opposite of humans. Roosters have ZZ, hens are ZW. Roosters give all their kids one Z, it's whether the hen gives them a W or another Z that determines gender.