Need help with mystery crower - Buff Orpington or Black Australorp

[mama24]

Did you figure it out yet? I think the BO looks very girly, but the Aussie looks like he's getting hackles. I'm no expert on either of those breeds though.

 

[swmalone]

I thought that the australorp looked like she was getting hackles too, but her comb and wattles are smaller than all the others, and she isn't standing out as a roo. I know the sex link is one of my layers and I am assuming the other is the orpington but I'm not positive.

Oh and Wendy I noticed in your post it said chemist. That is what my education is, I have a degree in chemistry but my entire career is food safety and quality.

 

[swmalone]

Two eggs today, both in egg boxes. It is hard to tell which one other than the sex link laid them because they were all up in the roost/nest box area. I am pretty sure it is the buff though, she has been squatting a lot and when she came down she was singing the egg song like crazy. I am hoping that in a couple of weeks or so I will find three eggs in there and I won't have to worry about if I have a rooster.

There was something that concerned me a bit the new layer's egg was wet on the outside and it looked somewhat like egg yolk. I hope that there is not something wrong with one of my birds. So far they all seem active and I would prefer not to go poking around in their vents.

 

[greymane]

Quote:
That is funny (in a sad sort of way), and, oddly true.

 

[hokankai]

Quote:
They're just getting started so there are some kinks that need to be worked out. My girls laid a couple of eggs with no shells! It's no big deal

 

[swmalone]

Ok so I have now confirmed that the buff orpington is female. I caught her laying an egg today. I will continue to wait and see what happens with the autralorp, so far no more crowing, but also no eggs either.

The egg from the buff was wet again today and had what appeared to be a little blood on it. She appears to be fine, she is running around making a racket fighting for grasshoppers, so I hope there is nothing wrong with her.

 

[TroutsChicks]

can you post another pic of the BA? I have one that I am curious about too. Its tail its really fanned out and points back towards its head and it walks kinda slow like a prance with its head held high..

 

[swmalone]

The BA doesn't like to pose for photos. There are a couple up earlier in the thread in case you missed those. So far I haven't had any more crowing so I'm going to wait and see if either I start getting more eggs or if I start getting crowing or fertilized eggs.

 

[momto4girls]

I just wanted to thank you for this string and for continuing to provide updates. We have a Buff that started developing red wattles at three weeks of age and her comb has always been much darker than our other Buff. She is 12 weeks old today and looks remarkedly like the 12 week pictures you posted - her comb is actually a little smaller, but just as red. "Goldie" is my oldest daughter's chicken (we are first time chicken owners and currently have eight) and it would be devastating to her if Goldie turns out to be "Golden Ray" (Kaitlyn's new name for her is she is a he!)

But she doesn't have any other characteristics of a rooster - her saddle feathers are rounded, she is definitely not the "boss" of the coop (in fact, the female looking Buff tends to be the most aggressive in our group of Buffs, Americauncas, Barred Rocks, Astralorp and Rhode Island Red) and no strange sounds at this point. I guess we, too, will not know for sure until Goldie either starts laying or growing, but your post and final "ruling" on your Buff gives me hope!

 

[swmalone]

My buff actually is the ruler of the roost. For a while when the sex link was smaller when we had them in the brooder she ruled, but after we moved them outside and the buff got bigger she is on top. I still worry about the australorp because there are some male characteristics but at almost 19 weeks of age we really don't hear crowing, the comb is still pretty small, and she/he hasn't tried to mount the others at least that I have seen.

My wife was out to the coop about a minute before me this morning and thought she heard a very quiet attempt at a crow but I stayed out there quite a while and didn't hear anything. I just heard some of the growling sounds that they occasionally make.

Good luck and I hope your daughter's buff is a female. I know we were relieved because it was our favorite bird, but of course we enjoy all of them so I hope that the australorp lays us an egg and we can keep them all.