ee roo or pullet

[mama of 4 girls]

We're newbies and don't know, but this EE looks different from our other EE. Redder beak and crown. Longer tail feathers. Hoping it's a girl as

[/IMG] we have 4 young daughters who think this is the sweetest of our 8 chicks. We got these chickens as day old chicks on June 16, making them about 10 1/2 weeks.

 

[Caheen]

Roo

 

[lightchick]

Could you get a close up of "her" comb? Right now I think you have a rooster.

 

[Twistedfeather]

That is definitely a cockerel because of the size and the sharper sickle feathers

 

[mama of 4 girls]

Oh no! Not a roo! The girls say they don't want to give up Mother Hubbard. What do I do? Here's that close up of comb

 

[Twistedfeather]

Are you in a place where you can't have cockerel's? If not have your girls work with him to see if you can use him for a 4-H project or something

 

[mama of 4 girls]

No. We live in a rural area but even the slightest hint that we can have eggs for breakfast and chicken for dinner sends them into hysterical tears. They're pretty sensitive about that subject.

 

[mama of 4 girls]

My oldest who is eight is crying right now telling me that she doesn't want "her" to be killed. I worry about having a roo around my youngest one who is 2 the other 3.

 

[mama of 4 girls]

Thanks for all the replies! I guess now we need to figure out what to do with a roo? Do I keep him or try to rehome him? Or have him for dinner (without telling my girls of course =))

 

[Wyandottes7]

Yup, that's a cockerel.

How many hens do you have? If you have eight or more, you can probably keep him, but if you have fewer, it will be better for the hens to re-home him. Many people keep roosters and they can be the funniest, most interesting member of the flock- I personally enjoy mine. Another benefit is that you can hatch your own eggs if you want to!

Keep in mind, though, that some roosters can turn out aggressive, which can be dangerous if you have younger kids. Even with enough hens, roosters may sometimes overmate a particular hen and cause feather loss. And, they can be noisy. Just keep these things in mind when decideing whether to keep him or not.

Re-homing roosters can be hard, unless they are a rare breed, there is great demand for roosters in your area, or they are show-quality. You can try posting on craigslist, or on BYC's Buy-Sell-Trade section: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/67/buy-sell-trade