First post - help with gender and breed please

[johnsons-r-us]

Hello! I've been reading these forums for weeks now. We got a batch of day old chicks just before Easter, another batch a few weeks later, then another after that. I so wish we had more room! I already want more

We got them from the farm store of course. Supposed to have all pullets

As you'll see our "rainbow layer" Larry is all roo!

Didn't think I wanted a roo, but after reading around here I thought YES I think I do. My daughters still chase him and carry him around. Guess that should stop soon as I don't want them to get hurt. He is very mild mannered right now. The problem is I think I heard another crow today. Could't see who did it. It's been so hot they like hiding in the bushes and shrubs. I free range from sun up to sun down. So far so good. However, i don't think I should have more than one roo, and I probably have more than two!

I didn't know the banty chicks were straight run, I swear it said pullets

Then I read somewhere banty chicks are too small to be sexed? I have 13 alltoghether. I've never had chickens before and I really need some help figuring out what I can keep and what I can't. I have 1 coop so there won't be any separating for a while. I'm pretty sure I should only keep one roo.

I am amazed at how you all can tell things from pictures posted. I don't seem to be any wiser after reading.

And I do have some experiece showing and raising other animals.....it's confusing to me to look at some pullets that look like roos with the big combs and wattels. Hope I'll learn something eventually! I've seen many of you with such beautiful purebred chickens I almost feel silly posting my farm store bunch!

I love these icons

Here they are:
#1 My pride and joy: Larry, my rainbow layer

#2 Silkie Bantum?

Don't know how his head gets dirty

BO Please be pullets

#3

#4

I have no idea what kind these two are? Bantums though.
#5

#6

Supposed to be Ameraucanas but I know they are not from the pictures I've seen here.
#7

#8

Not sure what this is?
#9

BR's i think . Hope all are pullets!

#10

#11

#12

Thank you all in advance!

 

[Freeholder]

Larry is a rooster, probably a hatchery RIR.

#2 is a Silkie -- not sure if it's male or female. They can be hard to tell for a while. Right now I'd guess pullet, but that could change in a few weeks.

#3 & #4 are Buff Orpington pullets.

#5 I can't tell what the breed is, but I think that one is a cockerel.

#6 looks like possibly a red Cochin, could be a cockerel.

#7 & #8 do look like Easter Eggers -- they come in all sorts of colors. Not sure about gender -- seems like the combs should be more red if they were males, but there's something about the tail feathers that looks like cockerel. It can take a little longer to tell with the pea-combed birds, so wait a bit on these two.

#9 looks like a RIR pullet.

The last three are Barred Rocks, and I'm sure the last one is a pullet, but not positive about the first two. How old are they?

Kathleen

 

[LostGosling]

All your regular sized (except for Larry of course!) chickens appear to be hens. The Bantams, however, are a different story. Your three Bantams that you have pictured here are all little Cockerels. The white one is a Silkie like you said, the black one with the white neck is a Silver Duckwing Old English Game Bantam, and the puffy brown one is a Red Cochin Bantam. Your grey and white barred girls are all Barred Plymoth Rocks, and your brown one is a Rode Island Red. The Ameraucanas are what they where sold to you as, they're just hatchery stock. I hope I helped, and good luck!

 

[johnsons-r-us]

Thank you Kathleen for your help. The BR's are about 3 months old.

 

[johnsons-r-us]

just my luck to pick out 3 little roos out of 3

Oh, well. I'm really glad chicks are not expensive

It would not be good to keep the banty roos, right? And in general, if I ever wanted some little buggers, can they be right alongside the big ones in day to day life? I shouldn't have a big roo with a banty hen, right?

sorry, I'm REALLY new at this. I just thought the banty babies were so cute I couldn't resist.

Diamond Peahen - Wow, the Ameraucanas I have see pictured here have such different coloring than mine I thought mine might be EE's?

 

[akcountrygrrl]

Larry is definitely a lovely production red roo.
Your little white Silkie looks to be a boy.
The two buff Orpingtons look like girls.
That's a cute little silver duckwing OEG boy.
The Cochin boy is pretty cute too.
The two Easter Eggers look like girls.
The production red is a pullet.
The next two barred Rocks are pullets.
The last one looks like it might have a beard/muffs??? but whether it's a barred EE or barred Rock it looks like a pullet.

 

[sdeneen2001]

#1 RIR roo
#2 Silky - I don't no about them
#3 & #4 Buff Orp pullets
#5 dunno but roo
#6 RIR roo
#7 & #8 Easter Eggers and both pullets from the colors
#9 RIR pullet
#10 & #11 Barred Rock pullets
#12 Barred Rock roo - the girls are more black and the boys are more white

 

[LostGosling]

There are actually several different chickens that have basicly the same name and are all related by blood. The Collonca and the Quetero chickens started it all. The Araucana, a rumpless bearded chicken that lays green eggs, was developed from the crossing of these two breeds. They bred the Araucana to american stock and produced the "Easter Egg Chicken" or Americauna advertized in the 1970s. This led to the development of the Ameraucana. Your birds, the Ameraucana, come in many different color variations. These color variations are mixed in the hatchery flocks to produce all sorts of unstandardized colors. This being so, when you were looking at other Ameraucanas, you probably wouldn't have found one that is colored exactly like yours. Your birds will also lay the pale green or blue eggs, just like their Easter Egger ancestors. So, you weren't far off when you guessed what breed yours are. Also, about your little roos. I have a whole flock of the little rascals running loose with my big hens and roos and they do relatively fine around each other. As long as Larry and the girls are okay with them, you can probably keep your Silkie and your Cochin (those two breeds are very calm and passive by nature). If you just keep the Cochin and Silkie, and the hens like them, you may even have little cross chicks next spring!

Now I'm going to talk about your game roo. They have the potential to turn aggressive, and he may be mean to your other little banty roos and torment your hens as he matures. I have 5 little game roos, and of them I have 2 that are over-aggressive maters, 1 that I can't even touch, and 2 that are fairly good boys. All were raised together and handled regularly as chicks, so that proves that personality doesn't depend intirely on how they're raised. You'll have to keep an eye on that one. I would also like to say that I love #6! She reminds me so much of my old Ameraucana hen that mom bought me from Tractor Supply Co. when I was 10!

 

[JodyJo]

Quote:
X2.....right on IMO also.

 

[Lothiriel]

I won't try to guess breeds on what I don't know! But I can see that both EEs are pullets, the RIR is a pullet, and all 3 Barred Rocks as well. I know that most of the time BR roosters are more white than black, and vice versa for the hens, but I had a BR hen that went against those rules.


So IMO all the BRs you have are girls.