Male or Female? Mystery "naked" 4w/o chick

[CascadiaRiver]

We got Rudie (Rudy the Ruby Red Rooster originally, but we changed it to Rudie in crossing fingers for a girl) from a feedstore "Assorted Bantams" bin, straight comb, yellow legs, dark red feathers, I am assuming bantam RIR/Rhode Island as other options seemed too exotic for WilCo to stock. Currently Rudie, his sister and brother are about 4 weeks old, sister being a blue OEGB and brother being a black bantam cochin who will need to find a new home unfortunately.

Rudie has always been a little spicy, however nothing out of range of sassy girls we've had in the past. Physically, Rudie is giving me mixed signals. He's got a tiny yellow comb (the two OEGB cockerels we already got rid of got wattles and combs much quicker, they were even crowing! Even our bantam cochin cockerel has much more comb & wattle) his legs are slightly thicker than the OEGB girls, but she's a much smaller bird overall so it feels like an unfair comparison. The biggest thing is Rudie is naked. This bird just does not have feathers. He's been feathering slower than the cochin which was surprising!

Here's a comparison of Rudie vs his cochin brother's comb/wattles (Rudie has no wattles currently), but also compared to his OEGB sister and black cochin brother (they've all had the same nutrition so we are perplexed by this naked ostrich baby). Mainly looking for sex/gender ID, no matter his breed as long as he's a lady he can stay in our dorky mixed backyard flock Thanks in advance!

 

[NatJ]

...from a feedstore "Assorted Bantams" bin, straight comb, yellow legs, dark red feathers, I am assuming bantam RIR/Rhode Island as other options seemed too exotic for WilCo to stock.

I think that is the most likely breed, but Rhode Island Red Bantams are actually rather rare compared with Cochin, Silkie, OEGB, and some of the other ones that seem like they should be more "exotic."

The biggest thing is Rudie is naked. This bird just does not have feathers. He's been feathering slower than the cochin which was surprising!

(they've all had the same nutrition so we are perplexed by this naked ostrich baby).

There is a gene called "Slow Feathering," which causes exactly that. Some breeds have slow feathering, some breeds have normal fast feathering, some breeds have some chicks each way. I do not think there is anything wrong with the chick or the feed. It just has the genes to grow feathers very slowly. Once the first set of feathers finally comes in, it will be fine. But the slow-feathering can be passed on to its chicks, so if you think about breeding this bird, do consider whether it's worth having half-naked chicks. (If this bird is female, and bred to a fast-feathering male, then chicks would be sexlinks: sons that feather slowly and daughters that feather quickly. If this bird is male, it can produce slow-feathering sons and slow-feathering daughters, and they will not be sexable by feathering speed.)

Mainly looking for sex/gender ID, no matter his breed as long as he's a lady he can stay in our dorky mixed backyard flock

I can't say for sure, but I am leaning toward female, considering that the comb & wattles have been staying small and pale while others were getting big and red. Of course the chick could just be a male who develops slower than the others, which is why I don't really trust any chick whose comb "looks female" at this age.

 

[JedJackson]

RIR and probably a pullet. Your OEGB is lavender, also known as self blue. She's not regular blue.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

RIR and probably a pullet. Your OEGB is lavender, also known as self blue. She's not regular blue.

Ah yes we're aware! It's our first time ever having a self blue and we're very excited that she is a little lady! Bummer that the crele turned out to be a cockerel though

 

[CascadiaRiver]

I think that is the most likely breed, but Rhode Island Red Bantams are actually rather rare compared with Cochin, Silkie, OEGB, and some of the other ones that seem like they should be more "exotic."





There is a gene called "Slow Feathering," which causes exactly that. Some breeds have slow feathering, some breeds have normal fast feathering, some breeds have some chicks each way. I do not think there is anything wrong with the chick or the feed. It just has the genes to grow feathers very slowly. Once the first set of feathers finally comes in, it will be fine. But the slow-feathering can be passed on to its chicks, so if you think about breeding this bird, do consider whether it's worth having half-naked chicks. (If this bird is female, and bred to a fast-feathering male, then chicks would be sexlinks: sons that feather slowly and daughters that feather quickly. If this bird is male, it can produce slow-feathering sons and slow-feathering daughters, and they will not be sexable by feathering speed.)



I can't say for sure, but I am leaning toward female, considering that the comb & wattles have been staying small and pale while others were getting big and red. Of course the chick could just be a male who develops slower than the others, which is why I don't really trust any chick whose comb "looks female" at this age.

Thank you for the response! I'll pass it off to the family and we'll keep our fingers crossed. Definitely no breeding, no roosters for us unfortunately with the current neighbors we have being not big fans of chickens as it is.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

That's not a Rudy - a Ruby... it's a pullet.