INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[iamfivewire]

hello PeaceDuckies
i used to live in DeKalb Co. (Auburn/Waterloo) , but i'm up near Lansing,MI now (since 2004).

 

[PeaceDuckies]

Steuben county

 

[Finnie]

Here's a challenge for anyone who cares to play the 'Guess the gender" game: This Blue English Orpington ia the result of a lav orp roo x mauve orp hen. Daddy was a very leggy cockerel who grew giant pink comb/wattles by 4 weeks. Mama hen had a small pink comb as a pullet. This Chick just turned 7 weeks old. I've never had one take this long to figure out. Comb looks female; wattles look male (IMO) Pics were all taken today and are all the same chick. Today she looks more like a she, but yesterday I was leaning toward male. Any guesses????

I'll say pullet. Those wattles are the only non-hen thing about her. Wouldn't a blue cockerel be getting some darker color feathers in around the shoulders and hackles? (That's a serious question, since I really don't know how blues color out. I just know blue roos end up with different colors sort of.) ETA: I checked, and I found a blue orp thread where someone said they call the cockerels "saddle backs" cuz they have dark backs and silver bellies. So I'm sticking with pullet for yours.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hello from Northeastern Indiana! (I'm located 10 minutes from Michigan and Ohio).

@PeaceDuckies

I'm near South Bend area.

Tell us about your flock!

 

[PeaceDuckies]

I started out a few months ago with a Rouen drake and hen. They're spoiled rotten and they know it! Last week I brought home 8 ducklings - 4 Rouen and 4 Pekin. They are currently occupying our bathtub, but I'm calling it their condo

 

[Faraday40]

I'll say pullet. Those wattles are the only non-hen thing about her. Wouldn't a blue cockerel be getting some darker color feathers in around the shoulders and hackles? (That's a serious question, since I really don't know how blues color out. I just know blue roos end up with different colors sort of.)

ETA: I checked, and I found a blue orp thread where someone said they call the cockerels "saddle backs" cuz they have dark backs and silver bellies. So I'm sticking with pullet for yours.

Thanks. You've got a point that there are more pullet traits.... at least for today.

Last Sat, she/he gave me these pics & really had me worried.
I swear it changes gender every couple days. LOL

In the above pic, it was very nervous about standing on top of the run, so its posture was more upright than normal.
It was also a hot day, so there was more pink than usual.

 

[Dayrel]

Thanks. You've got a point that there are more pullet traits.... at least for today.

Last Sat, she/he gave me these pics & really had me worried.
I swear it changes gender every couple days. LOL

Did you think of asking it what gender it identifies as?

 

[Leahs Mom]

I started out a few months ago with a Rouen drake and hen. They're spoiled rotten and they know it! Last week I brought home 8 ducklings - 4 Rouen and 4 Pekin. They are currently occupying our bathtub, but I'm calling it their condo

I wish I could see those duckies in the condo!!!!!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Did you think of asking it what gender it identifies as?

Okay... I'm

 

[Faraday40]

Did you think of asking it what gender it identifies as?

Yes. My kids both made some comments like that. While still very innocent, I believe my kids may have a more knowledge about the birds & the bees after watching how our roosters behave. They obviously have seen them mate & know that a rooster makes the eggs fertile.

DS in all honesty thought that a chick "turns into" a male or female as it grows. He's young, so I can understand where he was coming from b/c we can't tell gender until a chick is older. I always tell the kids not to name any chickens until we're sure we're keeping them. I recently explained to him that the chick was already male or female, but we just don't know which one yet.

While examining the blue orp, I asked DD to give me her opinion of its gender. She told me BOTH. Then she asked me if we could take the blue orp into the vet & have a surgery to change it into a hen.