I need help sexing these Partridge Orps ASAP

[K0k0shka]

Looking good! Have you started trying to rehome them yet?

Yes, a friend of mine who has a farm nearby has generously offered to grow the males out for me until they're worth butchering, at which point I'll take them back and we'll have a nice feast I'm going to drive them over tomorrow night after dark and set them up in a partition of her coop with two other males of the same age (currently being raised by my broody). It's going to be a sausage fest, but they only need to get along for a couple more months...

 

[cherrynberry]

Yes, a friend of mine who has a farm nearby has generously offered to grow the males out for me until they're worth butchering, at which point I'll take them back and we'll have a nice feast I'm going to drive them over tomorrow night after dark and set them up in a partition of her coop with two other males of the same age (currently being raised by my broody). It's going to be a sausage fest, but they only need to get along for a couple more months...

sounds like you have a great relationship with her...so I guess his fate is really a dinner plate

 

[K0k0shka]

sounds like you have a great relationship with her

Yes, my friend is awesome! We've been partnering in our chicken adventures for a couple of years now, and help each other.

so I guess his fate is really a dinner plate

Which one do you mean? At this point I'll be relocating Lemonade and Blinky. Pretty still looks female to me, so I'm making the call to keep her, and deal with it at a later point if she ends up male after all. Just looking at her side by side next to the boys, I can't convince myself that she's a he at this point...

 

[cherrynberry]

Yes, my friend is awesome! We've been partnering in our chicken adventures for a couple of years now, and help each other.



Which one do you mean? At this point I'll be relocating Lemonade and Blinky. Pretty still looks female to me, so I'm making the call to keep her, and deal with it at a later point if she ends up male after all. Just looking at her side by side next to the boys, I can't convince myself that she's a he at this point...

No, I meant the male ones...they are so beautiful! Sadly, one flock really only needs a few roosters. Well. on a positive note, Pretty does look female!

 

[K0k0shka]

I want to update this thread for anybody who was following and is curious about how things played out, or anybody new wondering about sexing similar chicks, too.

The chicks are 5 months old now. Out of the 5, the 3 that I suspected were female, turned out to be female indeed! Even Pretty, who I had doubts about. She has grown into a stunning, fluffy pullet who looks nothing like the breed which is why she was throwing me off, but she's my favorite and I'm so happy that I get to keep her All 3 females look different from each other, even though they are the same breed.

Pretty has her colors reversed - instead of orange with black lacing, she's black with orange lacing. She's the bravest of the three, and is sleeping on the same roost as the big girls and eating alongside them (the chicks have been integrated with the flock for 4 months now). The other two still sleep on a separate roost and are more timid with the hens, but everybody gets along.

Pooh is buttless. She has a tail nub, but it's smaller than the others', perpetually pointed down, and immobile. She looks rumpless like an araucana, but isn't - I'm guessing just a random deformity. It doesn't affect her life at all though. She has the most saturated colors of all three and is a beauty!

The Baby ended up having blue feet! Not standard but very cool. She was an assisted hatch and I'm so glad I went the extra mile to save her. She's very sweet and cuddly, and likes napping in my lap

I'm so glad I could keep all three - they are so sweet and affectionate! I love them!

Now, an update on the two boys. My friend that I mentioned earlier did end up taking them, supposedly temporarily until they're big enough to eat. They were such adorable sweethearts though, that she encouraged me to look for homes for them instead, and I would have, but things took an unexpected turn. Her run wasn't very secure, and a coyote managed to get in and kill 7 birds, including Lemonade. Blinky and Lemonade had been living in her flock for about 3 months at that point, and were free to mingle with the others but they always stuck together, completely inseparable and uninterested in the other birds (some of which were their age and they'd hatched together and lived in my brooder for a month). Poor Blinky was devastated when he lost his friend. He was sad and lonely, keeping away from the others, for several weeks. Recently he has started to mingle with the flock, and has even befriended an elderly hen at the bottom of the pecking order. The two of them are at the bottom, and keep each other company. It's adorable! The flock's king doesn't see Blinky as a threat because Blinky is so incredibly meek and submissive, but the other young cockerels are getting their butts kicked, so their time is running out. My friend will either be rehoming them, or if that doesn't work out, she'll be giving them to me to eat. She is in love with sweet Blinky though, and wants to keep him. If he keeps his submissive nature and keeps a low profile like he has been, he'll probably be able to live peacefully with her flock and its rooster, who is an excellent rooster - good to his ladies and perfectly peaceful with people, including strangers and their little kids. I can take my kids in there to visit Blinky and feel perfectly safe with the rooster right next to us, eating treats out of the kids' hands. I have only visited a few times in those 4 months, so I can't believe that Blinky still remembers me! He still comes up to me, sits in my lap and lets me pick him up, and if a more dominant chicken is chasing him, he hides behind my legs for protection My friend says he's very calm with her, too, but not that friendly. So he does seem to be responding to me.

Here he is:

And here's Lemonade, being held by my son (Lemonade was his favorite).

 

[cherrynberry]

I want to update this thread for anybody who was following and is curious about how things played out, or anybody new wondering about sexing similar chicks, too.

The chicks are 5 months old now. Out of the 5, the 3 that I suspected were female, turned out to be female indeed! Even Pretty, who I had doubts about. She has grown into a stunning, fluffy pullet who looks nothing like the breed which is why she was throwing me off, but she's my favorite and I'm so happy that I get to keep her All 3 females look different from each other, even though they are the same breed.

Pretty has her colors reversed - instead of orange with black lacing, she's black with orange lacing. She's the bravest of the three, and is sleeping on the same roost as the big girls and eating alongside them (the chicks have been integrated with the flock for 4 months now). The other two still sleep on a separate roost and are more timid with the hens, but everybody gets along.
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View attachment 2828897


Pooh is buttless. She has a tail nub, but it's smaller than the others', perpetually pointed down, and immobile. She looks rumpless like an araucana, but isn't - I'm guessing just a random deformity. It doesn't affect her life at all though. She has the most saturated colors of all three and is a beauty!
View attachment 2828904
View attachment 2828906


The Baby ended up having blue feet! Not standard but very cool. She was an assisted hatch and I'm so glad I went the extra mile to save her. She's very sweet and cuddly, and likes napping in my lap
View attachment 2828908
View attachment 2828910

I'm so glad I could keep all three - they are so sweet and affectionate! I love them!

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View attachment 2828960

View attachment 2828962

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Now, an update on the two boys. My friend that I mentioned earlier did end up taking them, supposedly temporarily until they're big enough to eat. They were such adorable sweethearts though, that she encouraged me to look for homes for them instead, and I would have, but things took an unexpected turn. Her run wasn't very secure, and a coyote managed to get in and kill 7 birds, including Lemonade. Blinky and Lemonade had been living in her flock for about 3 months at that point, and were free to mingle with the others but they always stuck together, completely inseparable and uninterested in the other birds (some of which were their age and they'd hatched together and lived in my brooder for a month). Poor Blinky was devastated when he lost his friend. He was sad and lonely, keeping away from the others, for several weeks. Recently he has started to mingle with the flock, and has even befriended an elderly hen at the bottom of the pecking order. The two of them are at the bottom, and keep each other company. It's adorable! The flock's king doesn't see Blinky as a threat because Blinky is so incredibly meek and submissive, but the other young cockerels are getting their butts kicked, so their time is running out. My friend will either be rehoming them, or if that doesn't work out, she'll be giving them to me to eat. She is in love with sweet Blinky though, and wants to keep him. If he keeps his submissive nature and keeps a low profile like he has been, he'll probably be able to live peacefully with her flock and its rooster, who is an excellent rooster - good to his ladies and perfectly peaceful with people, including strangers and their little kids. I can take my kids in there to visit Blinky and feel perfectly safe with the rooster right next to us, eating treats out of the kids' hands. I have only visited a few times in those 4 months, so I can't believe that Blinky still remembers me! He still comes up to me, sits in my lap and lets me pick him up, and if a more dominant chicken is chasing him, he hides behind my legs for protection My friend says he's very calm with her, too, but not that friendly. So he does seem to be responding to me.

Here he is:
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View attachment 2828997

And here's Lemonade, being held by my son (Lemonade was his favorite).
View attachment 2829012

Glad you have 3 pullets! They are all so gorgeous!!!