Jamal is 8 weeks old! Male or female?

[tuesdaylove]

Hello!

I've posted twice before asking the gender of baby Jamal. It was too early to tell for sure then, and I was told to wait until she (hopefully she!) was eight weeks old. I took some pictures on her eight-week birthday and I'm asking once more that y'all will give me your opinions on her gender. I'm thinking pullet myself, due to no wattle growth yet, but I'm far from an expert.

 

[AlleysChicks]

Cockerel

 

[tuesdaylove]

Anyone else?

 

[21hens-incharge]

I think that is a cockerel as well.

The comb is simply way to red for a female of 8 weeks.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yeah, I have to agree with the others. That comb is pretty red and fleshy for 8 weeks for a rosecomb.

However, Jamal appears to be a mixed bird, and they can fool you.

There are no male feathers yet, nor red color blocks on the wings, and the pattern is fairly even.

I have had some precocious mixed breed girls (especially if you broody raised her).

Also, rosecombs tend to pink with activity.

I'd wait a couple more weeks, but be prepared Jamal is likely male.

LofMc

 

[tuesdaylove]

Thank you everyone. Yes, I forgot to mention that Jamal is mixed. Father was a Cochin bantam and mother was a standard RIR mix with a rose comb.

 

[tuesdaylove]

Hey everyone, I've got some more recent pictures of Jamal. She (still hoping) has grown a good bit in the last couple weeks. These pictures are from today, and Jamal is now 9 weeks and 4 days old. Still no wattles so that relieves me a little bit, but she's growing a tail feather that looks green in some lights, so... rooster?

The only editing done to these photos was cropping. No color editing. I did slightly edit the previous photos, possibly making the face appear more red than it really is, but these are completely untouched.

If anyone can tell me what Jamal is looking like now, I would greatly appreciate it, and I'm always thankful for this wise community for helping me out.

^pictured above next to my full-grown bantam hen; Jamal is half bantam and half standard

 

[WyoChickies]

I have a young mixed breed pullet that started out like yours. I swore from 5 weeks that she was a rooster chick. I still struggle and call her a him. She started out with a red face and little red wattles. She looks just like yours with feathered feet and all- she's just light tan instead of red. She was broody raised and I think that's super interesting what Lady of McCamly said about broody raised chicks. Our little rooster chicken is now 18 weeks old and very obviously a pullet. She may even have started laying, as I've been finding smaller eggs in the nestbox again.

 

[annageckos]

I think cockerel, but not positive.

 

[rebrascora]

By no means certain yet, but the colouring is looking quite patchy with darker patches on the shoulders that usually indicate male. At 9 weeks that comb and slight wattle development are quite red too, so I'm leaning towards cockerel too.

I had one bantam cochin last year that kept me guessing right up until she laid an egg, so the odd one can really fool you, even pure breeds. Other hatch mates were obvious at 4-5 weeks, but this particular one had a significantly more developed comb than the other pullets and nearly as pink as the cockerels.... I was pretty sure it was a slow developing male, but she proved me wrong..... so there is still hope for your chick.