Found 2 chickens, pullets or cockerels?

[sarahjones0303]

https://flic.kr/p/2o4drzZ

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We found two young chickens on the side of the street in a semi-suburban neighborhood in Panhandle Florida. We have many birds of prey and a few foxes so we picked them up and got them set-up in our garage. Can anyone help identify if they are pullets or cockerels? Can anyone help identify breed? We are thinking dark brahma as they have feathered feet.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

They're Dark Brahma cockerels

 

[CoopBoots]

Wow, they are very pretty! Bless you for taking them in. It's a shame they got left like that...

 

[picklestheduck]

Yeah I would say dark Brahma cockerels as well. They most likely got dumped because someone didn’t want to deal with cockerels.

 

[sarahjones0303]

They're Dark Brahma cockerels

Thank you! We figured they may be and that's why they were dumped. Can you educate me on how you know they're cockerels?

 

[sarahjones0303]

Yeah I would say dark Brahma cockerels as well. They most likely got dumped because someone didn’t want to deal with cockerels.

Thank you, yeah we kinda figured there was a reason someone left them we have an HOA and aren't supposed to have poultry but we're not far from farms in Alabama so we're hoping to find a home for them.

 

[sarahjones0303]

Yeah I would say dark Brahma cockerels as well. They most likely got dumped because someone didn’t want to deal with cockerels.

Was it the chest feathering that you identified them as cockerels? Just trying to learn for the next time I pick up chickens on the side of the road

 

[HiEverybirdy]

That's awesome you took them in. Shame on whoever dropped them. They look so sad. They're probably heartbroken at the loss of their hatch/brooder mates.

Brahmas are wonderful. Usually extra sociable and pleasant and easy for beginners. The boys are large and showy and often (not always, but often enough) big teddy bears with nice, low crows because of their size.

It's hard to sex chicks this young, but the jerks who dropped them probably had female chicks to compare them to. With Brahmas, the males' pea combs may have more defined rows and turn pink earlier. They might have different feather patterning, and their feathers may grow in more slowly. There are exceptions to all of these rules, and the signs differ with different breeds.

ETA...I pushed publish too fast: The bottom line is in most cases you won't know for sure whether you've rescued pullets or cockerels when you pick up mystery chicks on the side of the road. Just keep doing what you're doing. Chicken-kind needs people like you! Your setup for them looks great. Since you're in noFla, I'm guessing the garage is at least 50ish? In our house, these littles would be barely feathered enough to be off heat.

 

[sarahjones0303]

That's awesome you took them in. Shame on whoever dropped them. They look so sad. They're probably heartbroken at the loss of their hatch/brooder mates.

Brahmas are wonderful. Usually extra sociable and pleasant and easy for beginners. The boys are large and showy and often (not always, but often enough) big teddy bears with nice, low crows because of their size.

It's hard to sex chicks this young, but the jerks who dropped them probably had female chicks to compare them to. With Brahmas, the males' pea combs may have more defined rows and turn pink earlier. They might have different feather patterning, and their feathers may grow in more slowly. There are exceptions to all of these rules, and the signs differ with different breeds.

ETA...I pushed publish too fast: The bottom line is in most cases you won't know for sure whether you've rescued pullets or cockerels when you pick up mystery chicks on the side of the road. Just keep doing what you're doing. Chicken-kind needs people like you! Your setup for them looks great. Since you're in noFla, I'm guessing the garage is at least 50ish? In our house, these littles would be barely feathered enough to be off heat.

Thank you for the help! Our garage is hovering between 70-75 with the weather we're having this week. I do have a heat lamp for them at night when it drops into the 60s in there.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I have had people dump roosters off at my house.