Golden Comets : Pullet or Cockerel?

[sarahlnorm]

Thank you for the advice! If I introduce a few new ones right now would it matter if they were the same breed? There are some beautiful Ameraucana pullets I've been eyeballing from a different farm. Can you tell I'm an inexperienced chicken owner?

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

You are welcome.

Also, I'm just going to warn you about making sure you quarantine new birds before introducing them to your flock.

I am telling you from personal experience, bio security is VERY important. You can possibly bring in a contagious/deadly disease with new birds and contaminate your entire flock.

I would keep them separate for at least a week, 2 would be better. Check them over to make sure they aren't harboring mites, worms , or something unpleasant. I know that it is a pain but flock health should be your #1 priority.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I agree that the two darker ones look like pullets and the whiter one is probably a roo.

I would recommend that if you purchase birds from a different farm that you have at least 2 weeks quarantine with preferably 1 month for disease. Quarantine also means downwind at least 100 yards, no fence contact, no bowls exchanged, and you should visit your new birds last never handling your birds after handling the new ones being careful of your shoes and clothing. (I had Infectious Bronchitis travel to inflect my whole flock...probably on the wind as that coop is upwind but some of my older flock had also had jumped the fence one day and scratched on the ground under the isolation coop which was waist high which might have been enough to infect).

I would also offer that mutts tend to mature faster in my experience and I have had some mutt hens with very thick legs...roos tend to have the thicker legs, but that in and of itself is not a good indicator.

At 7 weeks, I find generally the best (albeit not fool proof indicator) is the comb color and size. Girls will hardly have any comb at all or if they do it will be yellow and at most pale yellow-pink. Roos will have clear red beginning to show in larger combs.

Good luck on your new flock.
Lady of McCamley

 

[sarahlnorm]

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[sarahlnorm]

I exchanged the questionable pullet, but now one the other ones is wheezing and appears to have labored breathing. She's eating and pooping, so I don't know how sick she is. I'm not sure what to do. Respiratory infection?

 

[browning6]

your wheezing and breathing problems sound all too familiar. you should ask the farmer if he vacinates for anything. I had a strain of Avian Pox travel through my flock. I had about 6 that got real sick, it stunted the growth of 3 and they all died but it took months and seemed slow and painful. The rest got it and then got over it 3 to 6 weeks later. the only birds not to get it were some old birds. I am going to guess they had already got it at some point in their lives and were immune.

So listen to Roosterscrow,Hens deliver. She always has great advice.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I exchanged the questionable pullet, but now one the other ones is wheezing and appears to have labored breathing. She's eating and pooping, so I don't know how sick she is. I'm not sure what to do. Respiratory infection?

Separate her out from the others and watch her. Wheezing and labored breathing generally mean illness of some sort and can be a number of things from Infectious Bronchitis to airsacculitis to Chronic Respiratory Disease.

If it is a virus, it simply has to go the course, all you can do is support their general health with things like Chick Saver (vitamins/minerals/probiotics) in the water, add fresh garlic to their meal (since she is eating still), and I've even added elderberry tincture (which helps the body rid virus).

If it is bacterial, antibiotics are in order. If it is mild CRD, something like Rooster Booster Multi Wormer is helpful as it has bacitracin which the commercial growers use to control mild but chronic CRD. I used it after my flock had a bout of IB to ward off the secondary bacterial infections as several were still "squeaking" several weeks later....and I noticed it helped. If it is acute, you'll need something like Duramycin-10 (tetracycline hydrochloride) which you can get at the feed store. You can add that to the water.

If it is fungi, then it will be hard to find proper meds as anything for chickens has been taken off the market...I think people use Fish-Zole which contains the main med metronidazole, but I'm not sure of the dosage. Fungi infection can be very hard to get rid of in birds.

Here are some good charts to use as you watch for symptoms.
http://www.barnyardhealth.com/resinindompo.html

Meds:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart


If things begin to really go awry post on the BYC disease forum as there are a number of helpful and knowledgeable people who frequent (but be careful as not all the advice given is sound).

Good luck.
Lady of McCamley

 

[sarahlnorm]

Thanks for the advice. I ended up dispatching her yesterday. She is in bad shape. Struggling to breath, gasping for air and breathing with an extended neck. She became very lathargic and I just didn't want her suffer further. After doing more research, she had all the signs for gapeworm. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to check her throat before I disposed of her. I will try and check the others and continue with ACV in the water. We did thoroughly clean the coup and replaced the water and food. Here's hoping the other gals stay well.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Sorry to hear your loss. Hopefully the others immunities are strong enough to ward it off.

While possible it is unlikely to be gapeworm as that is fairly uncommon. I would read up on the symptoms for IB and Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT) or other virals as I've seen that kind of gaping with IB.

Destroy any bedding she was in as feces can infect others whether viral, bacterial, or gapeworms (after its gone through the earthworm host)

And don't panic as I've had one susceptible bird go down quickly with a respiratory illness that didn't touch the others...but keep on guard for a few days. I like to keep proactive care for the others with the immune boosts and Rooster Booster and leap to treatment if any others give the slightest signs.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you.
Lady of McCamley

 

[Meadowchick]

Debid---thanks for your comment about the combs for the Gold Sexlink chicks...I just bought a few and I have one that is almost solid "buff" /very light or creamy colored and I was beginning to wonder...It does not have a pink comb and is 3-4 weeks old now. SOOOO I will keep hoping she is a she!

BTW the others that are supposed to be pullets do look like the photos here....hmmmmm...