Is She a He?

[bakersdozenroo]

I have a feeling one of my pullets is actually a cockerel. The hatchery I got her from said they sexed all their chicks and said that if one turns out to be a male they will take them back up to 20 weeks. I noticed the last few days I was hearing crowing from the cockerel and pullets coop. I am including pictures of the suspected cockerel and my cockerel (suspected the black astralorp, known cockerel bielefelder). These two have always but heads and I thought it was because Raven was the dominate hen…. They don’t fight as Raven submits to Sasuke. But Raven sleeps with the girls (because I thought she was a girl and they all have been chicks together) as Sasuke sleeps in his own coop because he is about 4 weeks older. Do you think it’s okay to have them both or do you think one will have to go?

 

[WingItRanch]

A couple questions:
How old is the Australorp in question? Just curious but I do see male-specific pointy hackle and saddle feathers so yes, I believe he's a cockerel.

How many total chickens do you have? This will help determine if 2 cockerels are too many.

 

[Beau plus penny]

to me it appears you do have another roo i personally think its good to have a second roo in case one dies protecting the flock.

 

[JedJackson]

Raven is a cockerel. Not sure he is an Australorp. Those should be pure black and Raven has some other color in his hackle.

Keeping them together could be a problem. You just have to try it and see. The more females available, the better the chances of them getting along.

 

[Beau plus penny]

weve always had 2 roos until this year we are waiting to get our 2nd roo for this flock this february hes going to be a blue brahma

 

[BoundlessLove]

Cockerel
How many pullets do you have in there?
Also if they aren’t aggressive, I’d wait and keep both until you decide which you’d rather keep.
They’re in the teenage stage now, so I’d let them grow and mature before deciding.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Raven is definitely a cockerel, the male saddle feathers confirm it. Even if he didn't have saddle feathers, the size and color of his comb and wattles compared to the pullets the same age are another dead giveaway.

Whether you can keep 2 males or not depends on a lot of variables. How much space you have, how many females you have, and each individual cockerel's personality are the main deciding factors. The fact that Raven submits is helpful, but as he matures and hormones kick in that may change. If you have enough space for them to get away from each other and neither one of them has a personality that won't tolerate male competition you're likely to be ok. Also, if you have "enough" pullets that they don't feel the need to fight over females.

 

[bakersdozenroo]

A couple questions:
How old is the Australorp in question? Just curious but I do see male-specific pointy hackle and saddle feathers so yes, I believe he's a cockerel.

How many total chickens do you have? This will help determine if 2 cockerels are too many.

He is 17 weeks whereas the older cockerel is 22 weeks. We have 8 pullets.

 

[bakersdozenroo]

Raven is a cockerel. Not sure he is an Australorp. Those should be pure black and Raven has some other color in his hackle.

Keeping them together could be a problem. You just have to try it and see. The more females available, the better the chances of them getting along.

The hatchery I got him from said he was a black astralorp…. Guess not on multiple levels! We have 8 pullets. We did have 3 more but they recently passed due to I think coccidiosis.

 

[bakersdozenroo]

weve always had 2 roos until this year we are waiting to get our 2nd roo for this flock this february hes going to be a blue brahma

Beautiful!