Isabelle Orpingtons 12 weeks old When will I know their genders?

[ColtHandorf]

Thank you! They're absolutely gorgeous, I love them so much, I just wish they weren't so sketchy. They know what the bag of treats looks like and come to me every time they hear it but they not like my silkies, they hate being held and run away if I get to close without treats.

How did you make them not want to be underfoot?! Inquiring minds need to know. I'm constantly threatening to set feed buckets down on mine or step on them. They are always underfoot. Always. lol

I hatched 3 black mottled houdans with these orpingtons and two of them turned out to be roosters, they are both crowing at this point. The only sounds out of orpingtons is purring when they get treats.

Don't expect to hear any crowing from English Orpington cockerels until they are well over six months old. Most of mine don't start until they are nine months. And they may not breed until that age, too, especially if they go in with older hens.

 

[Rooka_2]

If they were mine, I'd say you have four cockerels and two pullets.

Cockerels:

View attachment 3522979View attachment 3522980

Pullets:

View attachment 3522981View attachment 3522982

It's possible that it's three cockerels and three pullets:

Cockerels:
View attachment 3522984

Pullets:

View attachment 3522985

I'm super confused how you tell, is there something distinguishing that I can look for on them? They all look completely the same to me. When do the roos start to develop their combs and start crowing? This is my first time with Orpingtons so any info would be amazing!

 

[ColtHandorf]

English Orpingtons are slower to develop, but judging by the reddening of the face and the thickness of their legs, and the size of their feet is a pretty good indicator. The males should be developing pointed hackle feathers at this age, too, versus the rounded feathers of the pullets. I you pick them up, the males will also be heavier, and their disgruntled put-me-down noises should be a bit deeper.

 

[Rooka_2]

Just an update incase anyone comes across this post in the future trying to sex their Isabel orpingtons.
Every single one turned out to be a hen!
Zero roosters, all 6 are laying eggs and look exactly the same as when I posted the pictures. Just goes to show, orpingtons are incredibly hard to sex lol

 

[Winderdear]

Congrats on getting so many egg layers! I hope that’s what you were hoping for. Your little pastel flock of hens is gorgeous

 

[Rooka_2]

Congrats on getting so many egg layers! I hope that’s what you were hoping for. Your little pastel flock of hens is gorgeous

Thank you! I love them, they're gorgeous hens. I'm super happy with my hatch, not mad at all. I'm on the hunt for 1 nice isabel orpington rooster now lol I'll wait till the spring, let them grow a bit more before we start trying to hatch babies