New guy in central Florida, trying to see if I have 7 or 8 pullets.

[janiedoe]

As he's getting older, he does appear to be getting slightly lighter in color, so I'm still hopeful that he is indeed a cockerel. I just got done today finishing
a 4'x16' chicken run that I built to attach to the end of there existing coop, so even the birds get a Christmas present this year.

Merry Christmas

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

He's now roughly 4 months and I'm gonna say he is a cockerel. He is still pretty dark in color, but has a good size comb & wattles, spurs have started developing, legs are considerably larger than the hens that are 2 weeks older than him, much longer tail feathers that stand up compared to the pullets, hackles started filling out a week or so back, saddle feathers just started coming in(but are almost all black), and he is definitely acting the part of a rooster strutting around with his chest puffed out & head held high. The only thing missing is he still hasn't started crowing, just a few high pitched screeches have come out when he has tried.

It seems like this hatcheries bloodlines must be late bloomers as my 5 month old Wyandottes nor my 4 1/2 month old barred rocks have started laying yet.

He doesn't like to pose for pics, so this was the best I could get. If you zoom in close on his tail you can see the skinny saddle feathers starting to come in.

 

[chrissynemetz]

He's now roughly 4 months and I'm gonna say he is a cockerel. He is still pretty dark in color, but has a good size comb & wattles, spurs have started developing, legs are considerably larger than the hens that are 2 weeks older than him, much longer tail feathers that stand up compared to the pullets, hackles started filling out a week or so back, saddle feathers just started coming in(but are almost all black), and he is definitely acting the part of a rooster strutting around with his chest puffed out & head held high. The only thing missing is he still hasn't started crowing, just a few high pitched screeches have come out when he has tried.

It seems like this hatcheries bloodlines must be late bloomers as my 5 month old Wyandottes nor my 4 1/2 month old barred rocks have started laying yet.

He doesn't like to pose for pics, so this was the best I could get. If you zoom in close on his tail you can see the skinny saddle feathers starting to come in.
View attachment 3393785

He's a handsome fella.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens. This is a great place to hang out and explore.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

And it's official, he went from nothing but a few squeeks and squawks to full on crowing this morning. There coop is outside my 7 year olds window and it startled him awake at 6 am when he let out his 1st crows. He had never heard a rooster crow before, and out of the blue he crows like he has been for months. I new it was coming though with how his attitude had been changing over the last week. He used to just about jump in my hands to be held, and 2 nights ago he tore me up when I picked him up. It doesn't help that we have a hawk that swoops down and sets on top of there run staring at them during the day.

Now if my girls can start laying, that $6+ a dozen for eggs is out of control.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

Just wanted to give an update. My 7 girls are now laying 5-7 eggs a day. My cockerel is now about 7 months old and IMO has turned out to be a very pretty boy. He has so many layers and depth to his coloration ranging from the white and black hackles to his blue/green tail feathers and is on track to be a big boy on top of it all. Even my wife has started warming up to him letting me bring him in the house at night to clean him up and try to get him more used to us.

 

[TwoCrows]

Just wanted to give an update. My 7 girls are now laying 5-7 eggs a day. My cockerel is now about 7 months old and IMO has turned out to be a very pretty boy. He has so many layers and depth to his coloration ranging from the white and black hackles to his blue/green tail feathers and is on track to be a big boy on top of it all. Even my wife has started warming up to him letting me bring him in the house at night to clean him up and try to get him more used to us.

He's a handsome boy!!

 

[triciayoung]

Oh my is he handsome and he stands so proud.