Getting a bit worried

[gordonburrito]

We have no idea how old our chicks are, especially the Australorps we picked up. They were much bigger than the others right from the start. Surfing through the forums we discovered a lot of people favorites turned out to be roosters and we are worried. I'm already a bit worried about our next door neighbor. I don't think he likes us very much and I have no idea how he's going to react when a chicken coop arrives. We plant a lot of native wildflowers and have large flower beds ....ripping up a perfectly good fence to fence lawn when we moved in....weird stuff like that. We don't bag our leaves in the fall but use them in our garden. Its a bit messier but good for our soil.....and I sort of mentioned to him that he probably shouldn't have topped his trees which seemed to annoy him. We DO NOT need a crowing rooster to alienate us further. There are a lot of rabbit hutches in town, yapping dogs, couches on peoples lawns.... but I haven't spotted any chicken coops as of yet.

Anyhow our little australorp chick came from a pullet bin. The guy at the store told us, "if we say they're pullets, they shouldn't be male". Well we have noticed she's a lot more adventurous and friendly than the rest. She does duck and cover when things are thrown over her head. But, she is also growing a noticeable comb on her head. It is yellow in color thus far but more prominent than the others. She maybe too young to tell but I thought I'd post and see what you all thought. Her sisters, seen behind in some of the pics, we are also a bit worried about, but she's in this weird ugly lanky teenage phase and is probably growing out of proportion.

Her comb from the side

And from the front

Here's a body shot



We have no experience with Australorp chicks and can't find any good information about sexing them. Any thoughts? Gut feelings?

 

[Chickiemama1010]

Im going to say thats a pullet, based solely on the way its feathering. Ihave aussies that are 3.5 wks. The girls have longer tails and 2 lengths of long feathers on their wings. The boys have no "real" tail feathers and only 1 stubby length of wing feathers, but I can see the start of hackle feathers just beginning to come in on the back of their necks. They all have combs developing at the same rate more or less, at least for now. Although its not 100% accurate all the time to feather sex young chicks, I think youre OK

 

[Chickiemama1010]

this one is a boy. see how scruffy his neck is? hackle feathers just starting. Also you can see how short his tail is and how he's not as feathered out as the pullet. These chicks hatched 3/15/10 so they are not quite a month old.



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This is a lady. She has a significantly longer tail and much nicer longer feathers especially on her wings. Sorry the pics are a bit grainy. Took them on my phone 10 mins ago.

 

[gordonburrito]

Thank you for your pics. They are very comforting. We like her so much. Nicest chicken I ever met...SRSLY

 

[Minniechickmama]

Are you sure it is an Australorp? It looks like it has some other coloring coming in on its feathers. Aussies might have a little white at first, but they should be black feathers otherwise. Is it just the light or is that a golden/reddish color I am seeing? I would guess it is about 10-days old in these pictures, no more.

 

[gordonburrito]

You are correct. The only white spot she has is on the front of her throat. She's always had a little brown barring on her feathers. Maybe she's not pure... She was in a mixed bin but the other variety were all very light in color. Nothing even close to black. Maybe when she grows up a little we can do a "what the heck am I" thread. Like I said before, she's a very nice chick and I'll be happy if she ends up being a hen

.

 

[KKatknap]

In my first batch of pullets, the Australorps seemed to develop their combs faster...and they seemed redder than the other girls'. But they ended up being girls. And they are pretty big girls.

Yours doesn't look like she would worry me at this point.

I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have!

 

[Minniechickmama]

Gordon, I am sorry to say, I am thinking you have a boy there. I don't know what breed, but it is not an Aussie. The shape is wrong and the beak is not right for the breed either, add that to the coloring and you do not have an Aussie. The feathering is what is telling me boy. The girls usually come in longer with a couple of layers, this one seems more blocky like there is just one row of them. I hope that is understandable. I didn't notice it as much with my chicks last fall as I do this spring. I am not sure what you might have as far as breed, so like you said, later you will post more pictures saying "What the heck am I".
Good luck.

 

[Chickiemama1010]

Quote:
I disagree. I can clearly see 2 lengths of feathers on the wing of the chick esp. in the last of the OP's pics. That "long" tail on a chick that young and those tips of the wing feathers reaching all the way to the tush screams pullet to me. They might not be pure aussies but as for my chicks (nearly 4wks old now) the boys' tail feathers are just starting to "fan" real feathers out from the little feather "stems" (sorry, dont know the proper term for that) They are not even 1/2" long. My pullet chicks have tail feathers that are easily over 2". Its very noticeable who is who. We're talking the length of my thumb vs length of my thumbnail. Also in mine, the girls have long wings to their butts. The boys wings barely reach their thighs. Mine are a bit older than the OPs.

 

[gordonburrito]

I've looked through the breed section and I don't really see anything that matches her coloration or appearance. I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be cool if it turned out to be a Jersey Giant hen". But, then I checked her feet. She has black legs and the soles of her feet are black on the back half and the tips of her toes are the normal Australorp color.

I think she may be a mutt chicken.....maybe I will call it a..... Marshallorp! (after our home town) or maybe I should call her a Sedalialorp (after where she was bought). In the mean time we will feed it and wait. If it starts crowing I don't know what we are going to do. Hen or not I know she'll never win a best of kind trophy...maybe a friendliest chicken award...