It's true, I hate my chick :(

[BigBlueHen53]

This is perfect, I might use it, if that's okay!

You're welcome to it, it's not original with me and I did not see a copyright on it!

 

[Manhen]

Dang, my second chick order I asked for 4 Ws hens and 2 Ws roosters. Turns out my first order, 3 weeks old now, had two hens included in the hatcheries' choice mix. As I ordered this mix again, I expect I will end up with maybe 10 to start a flock with, 2 of which are expected to be roosters....hmm there could be more as the hatchery claims an 85-90% error rate on sexing Ws. I am really looking forward to seeing this breed as one of my 3 core breeds in the flock. (More breeds simply because the multicolored basket of eggs is too much to resist.) I did have fun rolling the dice with 15 layers hatchery choice. We are still guessing on the rest except for the dominiques and leghorns. I think.

 

[ZooAtHome]

When I got my chicks, I had one Gold-lace Wyandotte, Cayenne, that was a few days older, and thus bigger, than the rest. She was quite the little bully, chasing and pecking at the other chicks, running them off when they tried to eat (I had two feeders, so no one went hungry). If my hand got anywhere near her, she would attack it. This went on for a couple weeks, maybe as long as a month. Meanwhile, my second GLW, Paprika, was a sweetie who enjoyed sitting on my arm and being held. I am 95% certain they are both pullets (won't be 100% until I start seeing eggs).

One day, Cayenne suddenly decided to sit on my hand. Just like that. No warning. From that moment on, the bullying stopped. She is now almost 4 months old and very sweet. She still likes to sit on my hand and sometimes even in my lap. She follows me around and talks to me. She never picks on any of the other chickens. I have no idea what happened to change her demeanor, but change it did. Paprika, the other GLW, is still just as sweet and cuddly as she ever was.

I have a total of 12 in my flock, all between 3 1/2 and 4 months. The two cockerels don't like to be touched at all and will usually stay just out of my reach. The 10 pullets all like to be near me and most will come up and ask to be petted, but only a couple want to be held. They all follow me and talk to me though.

I don't know if any of this is helpful or not, but your situation sounded similar to mine in the beginning, so I thought I'd share how things turned out for us. Hopefully, your girl will settle down with time, too.

 

[bellz15]

I know this is a super late update and maybe no one will see this - but here's the update on my Welsummer...

The Cretin is a.. HE.

It's insane how different he looks now.

I was convinced that it was a female, due to the 'unmistakeable' dark stripe on it's head and dark 'eyeliner'. I guess that batch of chicks didn't have the sex linked gene? Is that possible/common for welsummers?

Anyway he's now hanging out at the family farm with a bunch of australorps until he's big enough for Christmas dinner. It's looking like my wyandotte chicks are both hens- which would make me very lucky since they are my dream chickens

Thanks everyone for your help with this!

 

[Sequel]

I know this is a super late update and maybe no one will see this - but here's the update on my Welsummer...

The Cretin is a.. HE.

It's insane how different he looks now.

I was convinced that it was a female, due to the 'unmistakeable' dark stripe on it's head and dark 'eyeliner'. I guess that batch of chicks didn't have the sex linked gene? Is that possible/common for welsummers?

Anyway he's now hanging out at the family farm with a bunch of australorps until he's big enough for Christmas dinner. It's looking like my wyandotte chicks are both hens- which would make me very lucky since they are my dream chickens

Thanks everyone for your help with this!

I just read through this thread, wow that sure does explain it, doesn't it?

 

[igorsMistress]

I know this is a super late update and maybe no one will see this - but here's the update on my Welsummer...

The Cretin is a.. HE.

It's insane how different he looks now.

I was convinced that it was a female, due to the 'unmistakeable' dark stripe on it's head and dark 'eyeliner'. I guess that batch of chicks didn't have the sex linked gene? Is that possible/common for welsummers?

Anyway he's now hanging out at the family farm with a bunch of australorps until he's big enough for Christmas dinner. It's looking like my wyandotte chicks are both hens- which would make me very lucky since they are my dream chickens

Thanks everyone for your help with this!

Gorgeous fella you've got! I suspected roo when I read your first post. Thanks for the update!

Welsummers are not sex linked. They are auto sexing which means they breed true if you breed 2 together. Sex linked is when you breed two separate breeds and one sex is X colored and the other Y at hatch, such as Golden Comets. These don't breed true.

Auto sexing in Welsummers means the boys are slightly lighter in color and their chipmunk stripe won't be so well defined. Human error. I hope that helps!

 

[aart]

So to those who wondered if maybe Summer/ The Cretin was a little roo, here she is at 6 weeks. Unfortunately no side profile here but she still has her striped head marking and completely yellow comb.

View attachment 1846224

View attachment 1846225

Sure looked like a female in these pics.

 

[Manhen]

Sure looked like a female in these pics.

The dark "triange/stripe" on his head looks small, even though clearly defined as in a female. Dude's a freak.

 

[aart]

The dark "triange/stripe" on his head looks small, even though clearly defined as in a female. Dude's a freak.

It's not size, it's definition....but not all Welsummer lines are sexable by the triangle and eyeliner.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I was convinced that it was a female, due to the 'unmistakeable' dark stripe on it's head and dark 'eyeliner'. I guess that batch of chicks didn't have the sex linked gene? Is that possible/common for welsummers?

Yup I learned that when my first Welsummer, with dark stripe and eyeliner, turned out to be a boy. Second one had much lighter marks and turned out to be a girl. The whole thing about sexing them through their markings only works for certain lines so if you don't know the exact source of the chicks, you might as well just grab the first healthy chick you see regardless of markings.