Hoping for One Cockerel

[BigECart]

19 weeks. No crowing, no submissive squats, no eggs. Still small. I am 75% sure Buffy is a pullet, but still waiting to find out for sure.

 

[BigECart]

A couple more pictures of her tail feathers. Her bearing seems more cockerel than pullet, but it may be her flighty personality.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

I ordered 6 chicks + bonus from McMurray in April. I wanted a rooster, husband did not (but was ok if I got one). I ended up opting for the SR bonus chick. Sadly McMurray sent a bantam and it did not survive shipping with the larger chicks.

Now my chicks are 9.5 weeks and I think I have all pullets. I did not get good pics of my black minorca or crevecoeur -my iPhone doesn’t focus well on black. Here are the other 4 - I know the legbar is a pullet. The Andalusian looks like a pullet to me, but is quite feisty. The true blue’s face pinked up early, but didn’t turn red. And the buff minorca has the most red, but I suspect their combs develop quicker than other breeds - she’s also the smallest of my chicks.FWIW, there is no red on the black minorca yet. Behavior wise, the Andalusian and true blue whiting are most likely to face off and chest thump. Chicks sure are feisty at this age - I let one of my hens in the run with the chicks a couple of days ago, and the black minorca attacked her - it didn’t turn out quite the way she was expecting, lol.

This is my third generation - lost most of my first (local heritage breeds) to Mareks, I still have 6 (of 9) McMurray hens from my second flock (hatched Oct 2013) and am still getting 2-4 eggs a day.
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The Buff Orphington looks like a cockerel!

 

[BigECart]

The Buff Orphington looks like a cockerel!

She’s a minorca, so has a larger comb than an Orpington, I think. I also have a black minorca, but they are nothing alike. The black minorca has a much smaller comb and is a much larger bird. If the buff was larger, I’d lean towards cockerel, but she’s so dainty. Maybe a poor quality hatchery cockerel? I’ve read that the hatchery buff minorca are typically too small.

 

[The Happster]

B. Minorca is a girl.
You would know if it was male by now.
Pretty bird.

 

[BigECart]

22 weeks - no eggs, no squatting, no crowing. She is fairly low in the pecking order - very flighty and a bit paranoid. I expect that she will calm down with age. I’m still not 100% sure on gender - but she’s about to be outside the “starts crowing between 4-5 months” range. With how red her comb is, I’m surprised she isn’t laying yet. Here’s a couple of pictures from this week. She is still small - that’s probably the biggest reason I think she is a pullet.

Should know for sure in a couple of weeks.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

22 weeks - no eggs, no squatting, no crowing. She is fairly low in the pecking order - very flighty and a bit paranoid. I expect that she will calm down with age. I’m still not 100% sure on gender - but she’s about to be outside the “starts crowing between 4-5 months” range. With how red her comb is, I’m surprised she isn’t laying yet. Here’s a couple of pictures from this week. She is still small - that’s probably the biggest reason I think she is a pullet. View attachment 2353046View attachment 2353047View attachment 2353048Should know for sure in a couple of weeks.

That’s a cockerel!

 

[The Happster]

22 weeks - no eggs, no squatting, no crowing. She is fairly low in the pecking order - very flighty and a bit paranoid. I expect that she will calm down with age. I’m still not 100% sure on gender - but she’s about to be outside the “starts crowing between 4-5 months” range. With how red her comb is, I’m surprised she isn’t laying yet. Here’s a couple of pictures from this week. She is still small - that’s probably the biggest reason I think she is a pullet. View attachment 2353046View attachment 2353047View attachment 2353048Should know for sure in a couple of weeks.

She shouldn't be long!

 

[lysmandor]

At that age, if she was a cockerel, I'd think you'd see much clearer saddle feathers - and I don't see any - looks like a POL pullet, although I agree the younger chick pictures were very suspicious!

 

[chrissynemetz]

If I'm remembering right, the ones I had in the past didn't start laying until close to 30 weeks... so hang in there.