Is my 6 week old Ameraucana chick a rooster ?

[dretd]

Yeah all of my newer birds are super sweet they love to be held as long as you calm them down.. When my parents realize she's a rooster they'll want to get rid of her despite how much we love her, how can I keep her quiet/ tolerable so we can attempt to keep her.. Our hens aren't crazy loud but when this bird grows up I'm a bit nervous with how things may end up.

Hi brooklynbirds18 and

if haven't been welcomed already.

We hatched a really sweet roo and all went well until the hormones kicked in and he turned in to an adolescent jerk. My daughter went from 'he's my favorite' to 'I hate him' . It was probably more the Jeckyll and Hyde change rather than the end behavior that upset her the most.

We hatched an assorted clutch and my daughter decided to keep the most timid of the cockerels. I tried really hard via word of mouth/friends to get homes for the extras and ended up Craigslisting them after several months of failed tries. I was very surprised that off of one posting I got many calls and had a lady who wanted all 3 boys for flock protectors/sires for next year. And these were mixed breeds. So if you a patient and don't jump on the first caller, you may find a nice home for him. It really is not important to get a home until he hits puberty and starts crowing all the time and stirring up trouble amongst your hens.

 

[brooklynbirds18]

Still even if she doesn't remain friendly she's still like the best looking bird we've had so far I'm gonna hate when the time comes for her to go. How long will it take until she is fully grown and can no longer live in the coop we have set up in the house? because at that point is when we are most likely to get rid of her. I have 6 big hens already when is the soonest I can mix my two sets if my younger girls are about 6 1/2 weeks.

 

[brooklynbirds18]

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Still even if she doesn't remain friendly she's still like the best looking bird we've had so far I'm gonna hate when the time comes for her to go. How long will it take until she is fully grown and can no longer live in the coop we have set up in the house? because at that point is when we are most likely to get rid of her. I have 6 big hens already when is the soonest I can mix my two sets if my younger girls are about 6 1/2 weeks.

You should wait until the younger ones are the same height(around 14 weeks), unless you can have them near each other but a barrier like chicken wire separating them for a couple of weeks. Then free range mixing works best. Gives the new ones a chance to run away. For instance. I had my 3 newest pullets in the tractor from 5-9 weeks of age. I then needed the tractor for a broody to hatch eggs, so I let the pullets free range with the big kids for the day with me out there to make sure no major fighting went on. When the big kids went to coop, I put the pullets on the lowest roost and was out in the coop before sunrise to watch for aggression. A couple of pecks is all that happened. They all live together now as one big flock in the coop, but outside they are 2 flocks. And cockerels will start crowing anytime from hatch to 30 weeks, depends on breed and individual bird.

 

[brooklynbirds18]

I think my cockerel crowed today very noticeably for the first time..I'm not for sure if I was but we've never heard a sound like that yet.. It was pretty wicked.. And she (he) only did it in the morning when they were all confined in the small coop in the house.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

The first ones are pretty weird sounding and pathetic.

But once they get the hang of it, it's loud.

 

[brooklynbirds18]

Mine will probably get the hang of it soon :/

 

[MoototheCluck88]

What about her/him

 

[MoototheCluck88]

Is it a rooster?

 

[brooklynbirds18]

Yeah he was a rooster. We had to give him away because he was too loud and by the fourth day someone else had him he supposedly died by a coyote.. When I heard I was beside myself and still I feel so awful for it.. I think he was sold tho because it was such a fishy situation