Please help? Gender guessing game 4 wk BR & EE (I think?)

[lafemmeale]

Hi! It's probably too early to ask this, but almost all of my 4 baby birds are developing red combs & I'm worried! I live in city limits & can't have any roosters. Okay, let the games begin!

Our first contestant is the beautiful Whitey, one of my EE's. She has yellow legs, what's up with that?

Next up is Alvin (the chipmunk). I'll be heartbroken if she's a he, she's the most adventurous and my favorite. Thing is, s/he was the first to go red & is starting to get reddish wattles. Is there hope?

Next is Sweet Cheeks. She's supposed to be a Barred Rock, but she doesn't show any barring. Does that matter? She's the only one of the 4 that doesn't show any red. She's all black except for her cheeks (hence the name) and belly. She's also the shyest of all.
Picture stinks, but she has a black single comb.

Lastly is the BR Lulu, the one I'm 99% sure is a Roo. He flies a lot & had the biggest pink comb & is getting dark red wattles.

Redding Wattles:

I guess at the heart of my question is whether redding combs & wattles at 4 weeks is really a reliable indicator of Roosterism. Please say it ain't so...

 

[speckledhen]

Your black one is not a BR at all, but probably an Australorp. EEs can have any color legs at all since they are crossbreeds-there is no standard for them. I won't venture a guess on the EEs yet, though they really look more girly than male at this point. The BR has very red comb for that age, and though it's more pullet-colored (dark), could be a cockerel. Hard to say. Natural daylight is best with those since you have to see the color to ID male or female.

 

[lafemmeale]

Interesting! Thank you Cynthia! I'll have to look up Australorp's now!

 

[lafemmeale]

Hey, does this help? I heard it's easier to sex BR when they're itty-bitty?

I also can't deny that it's one of my favorite pictures of them... Lulu on the far left, Sweet Cheeks "hugging" Alvin & Whitey.

 

[speckledhen]

Meant to add that on your possible Australorp, if the bottom of the feet is white, you have an Australorp and if it's yellow, it may be a Jersey Giant. In that baby pic, the headspot on the BR could go either way--I can't tell in the pic if there is alot of "frosting" across the back of the head or I'd be more sure. That's not 100% accurate, but pretty close.

 

[lafemmeale]

A Jersey Giant?! That would be bad... I've disowned my Jersey heritage....
But seriously, the legs are black until the very bottom, then the feet turn yellow. i guess my roots are coming back at me!

 

[speckledhen]

There may be something else that looks like that with yellow feet, but can't think of any except the JG.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I don't think pullets get pink in their combs till they're at least 6 weeks old. My guess is cockerel on all but the black one, but you will probably be able to tell for sure in 2-3 weeks.

 

[lafemmeale]

Is there any way the black one could be a Black Orpington? Am I stretching it?

 

[cthrash1]

Hi,
Did you say above that all but the solid black have some red in them? or did you just mean the top two or maybe combs? I didn't quite understand that, I think I may have read it wrong....