Oh no....could this be a roo? *Panicking*

[StarSpun]

Hi all!

Every day I fall more in love with my baby chicks....Audrey the Black Australorp and Ellie the Easter Egger. They are a delight and have become part of our little zoo family<3

It's been about 3.5 weeks since I got them as hatchlings. I bought them from a farm who gets them from a hatchery, so they were guaranteed to be female 90-95%

It was apparent since the very beginning that Audrey was 'the look out'. I didn't think anything of the behaviour because of the age. Their personalities were quite clear from 48 hours old!

From the beginning she was the one that called out when I left their sight. She would always look around at the surroundings and has also always been the more gentle of the bunch when it comes to handling.

Fast forward to now. I am FREAKING out that she may be a roo! I have no problems with them, but the law does not permit a roo where I live and the neighbours are too close for that kind of thing. I am TERRIFIED that I may have to give her up. She is so attached to me, and to Ellie, I would be heart broken. Is it possible to get the signs mixed up? Is there still a chance for her being a....well....a HER?!

I noticed today that their combs are just starting to come in. Hers is a bit more obvious. Her tail is also not as big as Ellies, and it curves downwards. They are the same size, legs the same size, and I did the hat trick and both of them ducked but after she took off, she turned around to see what the commotion was. She does stand up quite high, but always has!

Here are some photos....what do you guys think? Too early to tell? Has anyone else had something similar happen and it still turned out to be a pullet?

Thanks so much in advance....I am so panicked right now!!!! :-(



I included pictures of Ellie because they are the same age from what I was told....
Two or three days ago:







Here you can see Audreys legs bending more when picked up. Is this also a legit way to tell? It happens almost every time....








Yesterday and today....notice the combs coming in and the tail feathers....













Updated comb pics of Audrey....single?!?!

 

[Odelia]

My experience has been that if I think it is acting like a roo it has always turned out in the end to be a roo. That said I would not give up hope quite yet. Your chicks are still a bit young to easily tell. Give it another month and you should know.

 

[Odelia]

If it is possible to get another pullet that is a similar age I would do so now. If yours turns out to be a roo your other chicken is going to want a friend. Also chicks that are raised together get along much better. Better to end up with three pullets than one lone girl.

 

[keesmom]

So far I don't see any signs of either of being a cockerel.

 

[foreverlearning]

They are different breeds so they can develop at a slightly different rate. It would be easiest to tell in about a month as we have a hard time before then. Don't give up hope, in my starter flock I had a gold star that showed every sign of a rooster and even grew her comb before the 2 roosters grown with her. She is now my head hen and controls everyone including my rooster that is twice her size.

 

[ChickenPox]

I have had the worst luck with getting autralorp roos. Having said that, the combs look small although they are still really young. I will second getting another chick now if you can. But give it a few more weeks before you start to get upset. Good luck!

 

[Studio2770]

Wait some time. From my experience I got an EE pullet who was a week younger than our two cochins and one of the cochins was the last to get fully feathered. Observe the behavior too. Our cochin who turned out to be a rooster was active as a chick. Just wait.

 

[StarSpun]

My experience has been that if I think it is acting like a roo it has always turned out in the end to be a roo. That said I would not give up hope quite yet. Your chicks are still a bit young to easily tell. Give it another month and you should know.

That's what I was thinking. Gah, how will I wait another month? Ha ha! Thinking of sending feathers in for a test....

 

[StarSpun]

If it is possible to get another pullet that is a similar age I would do so now. If yours turns out to be a roo your other chicken is going to want a friend. Also chicks that are raised together get along much better. Better to end up with three pullets than one lone girl.

That's what I was thinking about, but my situation is a bit tricky right now. So this is the thing. For the winters, I am in Florida and the summers in Toronto. I had originally got three chicks until one died (apparently a bad batch of Buff Orpingtons, SO SAD!). I figured I'd get a house sitter who would look after the chickens while we were gone, and I thought everything would be great with a friend who was going to stay the summer but had something come up (she's good for the next years though!). I thought maybe I could find someone in Florida to take them in for 5-6 months, or maybe someone across the border in the Buffalo area so I could visit them. But then I thought of taking them to Canada where a friend would take them in who is 10 minutes away. I've called the border, and Aphis, and found what I need to do to bring them across (it's really not that bad apparently) and now that is an option, especially in light of the fact that we may be getting a property up there where roos would be fine! Things are so insanely up in the air, and having more than two chickens with diapers travel in a van to Canada along with a cat, a cockatiel, a bearded dragon, hermit crabs, and several betta fish is kinda nuts. Ok it's nuts before the chickens, LOL! But yeah, just trying to figure things out for now....and we want to stagger getting chickens for egg production sake (we're also only allowed one chicken down at our place in Florida which is nuts, but the neighbours were fine with two!). So yeah, just kinda waiting around to see what happens....
it WOULD be really sad to have one lonely girl, but I've heard of people doing this before as a house/half house chicken. We both work from home, so she would always have company....hmmmm....

 

[StarSpun]

So far I don't see any signs of either of being a cockerel.

Hi Keesmom! Ok that's good! How about the smaller tail though, and the feathers aiming down instead of strait up? Anything else I should look for?