Here they are, hens or toms?

[Josh45640]

here is my BB white, thinking tom?...

Here is the royal palm, thinking hen?....

here they are together. Excuse the muddy mess, im suprised it isnt under water with all the rain.

When I called the person who had them for sale, they said they wasnt sure which was which at this age. But they knew one was a royal and one was a BB white. I bought them both to make sure I got the BB white. After getting home, it is clear that the smaller one is the royal. It already has black feathers coming in on its back and wings. It will probably be for sale soon. The BB white will be thanksgiving dinner.

 

[Josh45640]

Oh yea, they are supposed to be about a month old.

 

[nivtup]

I think you are on track, although they could still surprise you.

 

[Josh45640]

The bb was trying to strut yesterday, it was hillarious!

 

[Alexander]

i think that the one with the "red" head is the tom.Well he is larger so...

 

[ColbyNTX]

The BB should be a Tom because they mature faster and he is loosing a bunch of head feathers. RP's are hard to sex for sure before 12-14 weeks old. They will fool you. You should keep the rp in case your BB dies before thanksgiving. Not saying it will but it has happened before.

 

[Josh45640]

Quote:
He is actually a week younger than the smaller one. I think these B white almost grow faster than the broiler chickens! I swear it looks like he has gained a couple pounds the last two days!

 

[ColbyNTX]

The BB should be a Tom because they mature faster and he is loosing a bunch of head feathers. RP's are hard to sex for sure before 12-14 weeks old. They will fool you. You should keep the rp in case your BB dies before thanksgiving. Not saying it will but it has happened before.

 

[Josh45640]

Quote:
From what ive read, the RP's dont grow fast enough to be a good meat bird. Id just as soon sell it as I would butcher an inferior bird. Im sure someone would enjoy having a pretty bird like an RP running around the farm. Heck, the bb is a little bit bigger than a fryer sized broiler chicken now!

 

[Lagerdogger]

The royal palms don't have as much white meat, but they aren't bad to eat. I was surprised how much meat there was after hearing how poor they were supposed to be. And the taste was fine. So don't be afraid of eating it.

The feathers going up the back of the head on the BBW looks more typical of a hen. If those feathers don't disappear soon, you may not have the tom of your dreams. Give it another couple of weeks. And don't be fooled by strutting. I had three Bourbon Reds strutting last year. Only one gre into a tom.