Gender guessing Wyandotte and Cochin bantam chicks (4 weeks)

[Painted Calls]

Ah the wyandotte as well? I was suspecting black BC but thinking that the wyandotte would be difficult to tell for a while still. What gives the wyabdotte away?

Very thick and red comb and wattles.

 

[Martaals]

Very thick and red comb and wattles.

Hmmm, then I suppose it would be a good idea for the neighbour to get another one or two 10 week old pullets from somewhere else, so the chocolate won't end up alone once the roos mature.

For now it's of course no problem and we would anyway let them grow up, but I guess it's easier to extend the flock now while they are all there and "kids".

I think the chocolate is female and the other two are males.



Just looking at those photos, I'm leaning toward mottled, but I'm not positive.

Mottled chickens get more white each time they molt, so it will become more obvious over the next few years if she is.

Solid black or chocolate chickens often have some white feathers when they are young, that disappear as they grow up. So if she is not mottled, she will probably look completely chocolate the next time she molts.

(But then I looked back at the first photos in the thread, and I see that she had more obvious white then, so that would argue for her being not-mottled, since the amount of white is decreasing with age.)

Interesting to learn about the mottling. Because now indeed she is much less white than she was, but I suppose at the next molt we would know for sure. She's really cute in any case

 

[NatJ]

I guess it's easier to extend the flock now while they are all there and "kids".

Yes, it is typically easier to add new chickens while they are still young.

 

[Martaals]

Alright, a little update!

The black bantam cochin has started crowing, so the neighbour has given us both of the two roosters back. She did pick up two more hens back in august, but was still wanting to keep the roos in the flock as long as possible because they are just really sweet and taking good care of the flock. And of course the rooster chicks were the most social and in terms of pets, the most social/favourites especially of the 10 year old daughter who finds it TERRIBLE to part with her favourite birds, and the emotional impact seems bigger than anticipated. They are really lovely.

They are now 4 months and 2 weeks, and back in their birth coop. They are calm and get along well, and I got asked repeatedly if there isn't like a way to make sure they don't crow too early/loud and so on.

I have no experience with that, but I thought it could be worth checking how bad of an idea it is to keep one or two roosters in an urban garden, and if there are ways of keeping them from getting too loud/early up.

In any case I think its not very wise to keep 2 roosters with 3 hens. Of course they grew up together and are functioning well together (for now). But once they really mature I suspect problems. So for now I said we take them for a while, so they can have some distance while deciding what to do. Nobody crowed this morning, but they seem familiar in their old place. Relaxed and eating/drinking well.

So here's a reunion with bantam roosters King (Black cochin) and Jordan (Columbia wyandotte)

 

[Martaals]

I'm just gonna add more pictures because... Why not

Sticking together does seem the safest way to approach the elders

Greta keeps the order

It was looking so calm and easy going, we decided to open up the coop and let them mingle with our flock (as they are still relatively young and have been together before).

Really interesting to watch the flock behaviour! Basically, hen nr2 from the top (she's the muscle, but not the boss) went over to put them in place.

Jordan (the wyandotte) immediately showed submission without a peck. With King (the black cochin) there were two fights. No blood, but he wasn't ready to be dominated and he did manage to pull a couple of feathers. Eventually he gave up though, although I suspect he might try again, but except these encounters no one bothered each other and they all ate together and hung out without tension. The roosters were being respectful to our flock, which is nice cause I would like them to be able to free range together this week. We do keep them in separate coops for the night though.