Of my 4 nine week old chicks the Cockerel is a bit smaller than the pullets

[bayareapilot]

If you'll recall from my what gender is this posting my four chicks from the sexed run, so far have ended up with one of the chicks being a Cockerel.
The one other mystery chick I'm leaning now toward it being a pullet.
But back to Norman formerly known as Nancy. :
So the fella's very healthy and seems to be eating fine, but he is smaller than the pullets. Not by a whole lot but enough to notice. As I said he otherwise seems healthy he's eating and everything else is normal. What I was thinking is with Easter eggers, which were sold this americaunas, is that they're essentially a mutt so to speak. so their genetic makeup is some makeup from a lot of different combinations and I was just thinking that maybe my one Cockerel just has the genetics to be a little smaller. Didn't start out that way either he was bigger than the pullets and then the pullets pulled ahead of him and got just a little bit bigger. Again I'm not talking about a massive size difference but enough to notice. Anyway just wondering if this is normal since I've never had a Cockerel before? I want to stress he's eating normally and looks great as I said I'm just thinking maybe his genetic makeup makes him a little smaller than some of the others?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I'm just thinking maybe his genetic makeup makes him a little smaller than some of the others?

Post a pic, lets see.

Is he a bantam? I didn't see your first thread. You could post a link to that as well if you like.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A link to that other thread with photos or putting some photos on here might help. Also knowing where you got them might help. Some hatcheries established their "colored egg layer" breeding flocks before the Ameraucana breed was established, using the "mutts" that were used to create the Ameraucana breed. Some EE's are created by mixing other chickens with Auracana or Ameraucana chickens, but some are descendants of the chickens used to create Auracana and Ameraucana breeds. Before the Auracana and Amercaucana breeds were established some used these names as marketing names and many haven't changed that. Some have. I wish they all would. It gets all kinds of complicated and some hatcheries aren't helping. And who knows what some individuals will do.

It's really common for roosters to be larger than the hens of the same breed. But EE's are not a breed so there is no standard for them. Also, I've gotten a large number of male chicks of the same breed and it is really obvious that some males are just bigger and develop faster than other males. While some males can be bigger almost from hatch others don't really show that difference until they hit puberty. At nine weeks your cockerel probably hasn't hit puberty. As long as he is acting normally I would not worry. He may hit a growth spurt at puberty. With his unknown genetic background it is possible he may never get that big, I've had runts before. I don't now your goals or reasons for keeping a cockerel that was supposed to be a pullet, his eventual size may or may not be an issue for you. But as long as he is acting OK he probably is.