Pics! Help with chick gender please!

[kittikatti69]

Okay... I hope this works... haven't tried posting pics on here yet!

This is the black australian orpington pullet (hatched april 2nd) who I'm beginning to think may not be a pullet at all!

Here's a closer look at her face

For fun, this is my aracauna baby (also hatched April 2)

I'll post pics of my two adults in another category as I would appreciate help confirming their breed.

If anyone can shed some light on whether my black one is a pullet or cockerel, I'd greatly appreciate it! I'm quite worried that she's a cockerel... in which case I will have to rehome her. HELP!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Yup, she looks like a he to me

 

[kittikatti69]

How can you tell? Is it the crown/waddle, or just the stance? "She" walks a lot more upright than the other chick. They are both supposed to be layers... but of course we all know how accurate the feed stores can be.

If it's a cockerel... anyone in NW Washington want a beautiful rooster??

 

[SkeeredChicken]

Roo?
Hen

 

[barg]

I have 2 australorps, younger then yours.
Looking at pics of roo's and hens, yours looks just like the hens at this stage, but im not an expert so maybe that comb and wattles will get bigger.
Keep updateing, you can help me get passed a panic stage about mine later on

http://www.privetthatchery.com/cat/images/bas.jpg
Not posative this url will work directly

 

[iopele]

Quote:
What a pretty girl! It looks like a falcon!

If you got this chicken from a feed store, it is almost definitely not an Araucana. It looks like an Easter Egger--a mixed breed chicken that lays colored eggs. Araucanas are rumpless--they're genetically missing the "Parson's Nose" vertebra where the tail grows out--have tufted earlobes, lay vividly blue eggs, and are very, very difficult to find. Due to the fatal tufted gene and the difficulty in hatching them, hatcheries don't tend to breed real Araucanas. (Which is a shame because they're great birds!)

Sorry if I got preachy there, lol! Lots of feed stores and hatcheries sell Easter Egg chickens as Araucanas, and it's a pet peeve of mine. People should know what they're getting and business shouldn't sell a mixed-breed chicken as a pure-breed! I can't think of any other chicken breed where hatcheries and feed stores do this and it goes unchallenged--it's like finding any chicken that lays a brown egg and calling it a Maran.

But back on the topic, I'm not familiar with the Orpington breed so maybe the hens have more pronounced combs and wattles, but it looks like a roo to me. I've heard that only pullets squat to poop--does this one squat down? I guess we'll know for sure when it either crows or lays an egg, lol!

 

[kittikatti69]

yeah... I've seen the term "easter egg chicken" and aracauna used pretty interchangeably and I realize it's not the original (true) aracauna breed that they sell. I don't care... although I do agree with you that the stores should market more truthfully. I actually got this type due to the egg colors (plus I could tell it would be a beautiful bird) so that I could tell who was laying eggs at any given time. Both my girls now lay brown/buff eggs - so it's hard to tell. Providing my orpington is also a hen (please, please!!!) she'll also lay browns... so at least I'll have ONE that is unique. LOL

So so far the results are mixed on whether she's a pullet or cockerel... Hmmmmmm. Guess I'll just have to wait and see. Wish there was a way to tell for sure! If it's a cockerel, I'd like to rehome asap and replace with a new pullet.