girls at 2 weeks- No tail feathers on one; any ideas why? with pics

[4myHennyPenny]

Oh, please let Turkey just be behind but still be a pullet like chickenhorsefarm's slowpoke!

She/he flew up on my shoulder the other day and sat quite contently for 30 minutes. I'd be sad to let her go.

Has anyone else been fortunate enough to share chickenhorsefarm's experience, eg. chick wound up being a pullet in the end but was just slower with the feathers than the rest?

And for those of you who wound up with roos, were they also smaller than the pullets in the beginning? Turkey is the same size as the others, just light on the feathers.

 

[kcfuerst]

In early February, I got my first day-old chicks from Belt Hatchery in Fresno, CA. They claimed to have a 95% accuracy on sexing. I ordered 12 pullets, six different breeds and crossed my fingers that they would be all girls.

While I was watching them grow, every single chick developed in different stages, even those of the same breed. For the most part they are fully grown now, I must say they all developed completely different combs, earrings, and wattles. Every single characteristic has remained entirely different, even among their own "eggmates".

One golden laced Wyandotte is very golden with a short comb, small wattles and very small earrings while the other has less vivid gold but has some very fine and elegant hangly dangly attributes. Same with the Delaware; one is smaller and more petite than the other and their combs are different shades of red. One Amauracana is of average size and color with a speckled head and a small comb, the other is smaller, bluish with the head of a hawk. The New Hampshire reds are two completely different shades of "red", combs and wattles of different sizes and colors. Go figure. Here are a couple pictures as examples:

Golden Laced Wyandottes:

Delaware:

I was very nervous because I didn't want to have to wind up with any roosters to have to give away. There was little I could do but wait. I think there are great ways to guess what sex a chick is along the way, but nothing works better than time. Now after five months, no crowing and everyone starting to lay eggs, I'm very proud to finally be able to say with certainty that Belt Hatchery succeeded in giving 100% pullets! I would recommend them to everyone. They all arrived in good health and stayed that way to this day.

 

[SeaChick]

K8tiecat-
How were you able to order 11 chickes from Belt? I'd looked at them and I thought they had a 25-chick minimum?
Stacey

 

[Wolfpacker]

I bought six Domineckers from My Pet Chicken. Got them seven weeks ago today. All are supposed to be pullets.

Three are beautiful birds and look like miniature chickens already.

Three are scraggly and small and look like ostriches, except for the short neck. None of these three have tail feathers yet.

I can't tell a difference in their dispositions. One of the "nice" birds and one of the scraggly ones are both very friendly and are always jumping up on me. One of each are also very shy.

I hope I don't have three roosters. I live in the city and have neighbors very close.

 

[pattycake]

Quote:
Glad to hear I'm not alone with this conundrum. Really hoping they don't wind up roos, though!

How old are yours?

Mine are four weeks old now. I haven't seen any picking behavior at all, so maybe I'm wrong and the tails are just slow growing. Weird! Of my three Jersey Giants, one has a thick, sprightly upright tail, one has a normal downward tail, and one has no tail. (Three different sexes??) The one with no tail has spotty feathers elsewhere and a skinny ostrich-like neck.

An acquaintance of mine who grew up on a chicken farm claims that you call tell the roosters by seeing who keeps their head up and looks around a lot while everyone else is just scratching.

 

[4myHennyPenny]

Has really been fascinating reading everyone's experiences, so thanks so much for posting!

Well, right after my last post I noticed that Turkey's comb had grown quite a bit that day. Definitely bigger than Wanda's (the other BR). AND, unfortunately, it looks as though the little bumps aren't all in one straight line. If you connected them, it would be a bit of a zig zag. Is this a bad sign, i.e. greater chance "she" is a "he"?

I've also noticed that Henrietta's (BO) comb is sticking up a bit taller than the other chicks' combs. It doesn't really look pink at all and all the bumps are in one straight line, but it's certainly not as short as the BRs' or Ameraucanas'. Just a normal, individual development thing, or another possible sign of a roo? I'd be crushed!! She is by far our sweetest little cuddler.

Brought each of the girls (we'll just call them that for now) upstairs individually last night. Was funny to see how long it took them to step off my hand onto the hardwood floor; took several "pecks" on the floor with my hand and a few treats to coax them off. Did notice that they're nearly as good as the dogs about cleaning up under dd's chair; maybe we'll have to start bringing them up for the final crumb cleaning.

Money Penny (EE/Am) is supposed to be dh's chick, so I had him hold her for a bit last night. As soon as she could, she hopped of his hand and ran back over to me!

This morning they had their first trip outside. As soon as I joined them in the little run, they ran over to me, jumped up and perched for a while. It was incredibly adorable, and I have to admit that it was heartwarming to be their "momma"!

BTW, I noticed that Turkey stopped scratching to check things out more often, particularly when we began to hear the hawks nearby. I was wondering if this might be another indicator of a roo on lookout for their flock.

I'll try to post pics of the combs soon. In the meantime, keep the stories of your chicks coming. They're liking getting one more piece to a puzzle; certainly add to the mystery and excitement while we try and figure out what we've got!

 

[Wolfpacker]

I was just outside with my chicks and thought about this thread. The three who are small started out with very prominent wing bars even when they were chicks. Their white is much more prominent than the other, "nicer" looking birds, whose markings kind of look blurred. The scraggly ones still have no tailfeathers, but the littlest and ugliest one is very sweet. I had her (I hope it's a her) on one shoulder and one of the "nice" looking birds on the other. They just took it on themselves to jump up on me. The little one has feathers that go every which way. I don't have a digital camera, but if I can borrow one, I'll post pictures.

 

[pattycake]

My only Buff Orp has the reddest comb of the flock -- I don't have any other BOs to compare her (him??) to, though. S/he also butts chests a lot and is a bit more independent than the others -- but s/he's also the friendliest -- the only chicken that comes over to me and demands to be picked up. I'll be crushed if Dolly is actually a rooster. I might have to keep her anyway... locked in a sound proof coop!

S/he also has a nice full tail, though...