My timeframe has suddenly shrunk because of chicken drama and I need to rehome my boys sooner than I thought. I'm not 100% sure which are boys yet, which complicates things, so I'd love your help!
These are 4-week-old Red Partridge Orpington chicks. They aren't 100% pure though, because the breeder is occasionally breeding out to other colors of Orpington to improve the health of the line, so they had very inconsistent patterning when they hatched, and still look pretty different. So that's confusing me now, and I don't know how much I can rely on the patterning for sexing. There are 5 of them, and I'm fairly sure on 2 boys, 1 girl, 1 potential other girl, and the 5th is throwing me off because the feather pattern doesn't match the comb... That's the one I need most help with.
Here they are (the names are placeholder until we find them better ones
):
Pooh - by now I'm certain she's a girl, because of her feather pattern. But she has a nice small comb and thin legs, too.
Lemonade is definitely a boy. Aside from the big red comb and wattles and the thick legs, he's also big and very heavy. Interestingly, his breast is coming in patterned (as opposed to black as it should), but it's not the same kind of pattern as on Pooh's breast. Lemonade's has very big broad black areas on each feather, as opposed to Pooh's which just have a smaller black dot. Not sure if that matters...
Blinky, looks like another boy. Reddest comb and wattles of the bunch. He's the slowest to feather out, but is otherwise big and getting heavy, too:
The Baby's feathering is starting to look more and more like Pooh's, and I'm gaining confidence that it's a girl. Also, the comb is still small and pale. So... Girl, right?
The Pretty One. This one confuses me, because it has SO much black all over - big solid areas of black breaking up the pattern - which would mean boy for partridges, but at the same time, its comb is so very small and pale compared to Lemonade's or Blinky's... And I don't know how much I can rely on the feather pattern, given the context of this particular line. This one has suddenly become quite affectionate with me, so I'm still hoping. This is the one I need most help with, because I need to figure out whether to rehome it with the boys, or keep it with me with the girls...
Recap: my guess is Lemonade and Blinky are boys, Pooh and The Baby are girls, and The Pretty One is still unclear - I'd say girl based on the comb, but boy based on the feather pattern (which may not be a reliable method). I need to figure out what The Pretty One is, and soon (and get confirmation on my other guesses).
What do you guys think?
These are 4-week-old Red Partridge Orpington chicks. They aren't 100% pure though, because the breeder is occasionally breeding out to other colors of Orpington to improve the health of the line, so they had very inconsistent patterning when they hatched, and still look pretty different. So that's confusing me now, and I don't know how much I can rely on the patterning for sexing. There are 5 of them, and I'm fairly sure on 2 boys, 1 girl, 1 potential other girl, and the 5th is throwing me off because the feather pattern doesn't match the comb... That's the one I need most help with.
Here they are (the names are placeholder until we find them better ones
):Pooh - by now I'm certain she's a girl, because of her feather pattern. But she has a nice small comb and thin legs, too.
Lemonade is definitely a boy. Aside from the big red comb and wattles and the thick legs, he's also big and very heavy. Interestingly, his breast is coming in patterned (as opposed to black as it should), but it's not the same kind of pattern as on Pooh's breast. Lemonade's has very big broad black areas on each feather, as opposed to Pooh's which just have a smaller black dot. Not sure if that matters...
Blinky, looks like another boy. Reddest comb and wattles of the bunch. He's the slowest to feather out, but is otherwise big and getting heavy, too:
The Baby's feathering is starting to look more and more like Pooh's, and I'm gaining confidence that it's a girl. Also, the comb is still small and pale. So... Girl, right?
The Pretty One. This one confuses me, because it has SO much black all over - big solid areas of black breaking up the pattern - which would mean boy for partridges, but at the same time, its comb is so very small and pale compared to Lemonade's or Blinky's... And I don't know how much I can rely on the feather pattern, given the context of this particular line. This one has suddenly become quite affectionate with me, so I'm still hoping. This is the one I need most help with, because I need to figure out whether to rehome it with the boys, or keep it with me with the girls...
Recap: my guess is Lemonade and Blinky are boys, Pooh and The Baby are girls, and The Pretty One is still unclear - I'd say girl based on the comb, but boy based on the feather pattern (which may not be a reliable method). I need to figure out what The Pretty One is, and soon (and get confirmation on my other guesses).
What do you guys think?
Any guess is better than no guess, so I’ll hear any opinion. I really wish I could wait until it’s clear, but circumstances are forcing my hand.
