Help with sex ID of Lavender Orpington

JennyM307

Chirping
Mar 4, 2024
11
59
56
Kokomo, Indiana
I have 2 lavender orps that I purchased from a breeder in April, and she insisted they were both pullets. They were about 4-5 weeks old when I got them, so I'm not sure how she sexed them. They are approximately 11-12 weeks old now (give or take; I don't know their exact birth date). I strongly suspect one is a male.

Here are my reasons why:

This one's comb is turning red, while the other one's comb is still very small and yellow.

This one has red wattles coming in, while the other one has very faint yellow wattles just starting.

Yesterday I witnessed a very gentlemanly act of this one pulling a leaf off of a tree and giving it to the other one to eat.

These two are absolutely bonded. They are inseparable. If one goes in the coop without the other, they'll both cry the "lost" cry until they're reunited. I realize it could be just because they're sisters, but, it's extreme.

I live in town and a rooster would not be a welcome addition to my very quiet neighborhood. I hate the thought of breaking these two up, should "she" turn out to be a "he." 😢 I'm really hoping that this one is simply maturing more quickly than the other.

I'm attaching several pictures. I tried to get shots of full body, tail, hackles, etc. In the photo with the other birds, the female lavender is in the middle. I've included it so you can see how small her comb is.

It's really difficult to discern the feathers since they blend so well and they are super-active, so I'm having trouble seeing hackle and saddle feathers. These two birds will NOT let me hold them, so I can't get close and have to rely on zooming in. I suppose I could sneak in at night 😄

All opinions welcome!
 

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Definitely both pullets. At their age now, the comb size of a rooster would be much much bigger.

And if you look at her tail, there is no curve/point of a rooster. She has the typical tail of a pullet with the feathers on her tail all about the same size.

They are just very loving sisters!
Thank you for the explanation. They sure are a pair!
 

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