Pullet or cockerel!?

[mjchicks]

The 3 'hens' we bought a couple of weeks ago, and turned into 2 'hens' (Poppy, Nugget) and 1 cockerel (Tikka). He's getting quite an impressive comb and wattles (if that's what the chin bits are called!) at about 8 weeks old. He will be going back to the farm tomorrow and being swapped for a hen. The only thing is, one of the hens is acting in the same way as him, although looking like a girl. If either Poppy or Tikka stretch and flap their wings, Nugget will run over with her wings flapping and do chest bumps with them. She sticks to Tikka like glue, and they both ignore Poppy. To the point where she was being left alone under the coop and the other two were cuddling up in a nest box. Up until last night, I've had to go out and actually put Poppy to bed. Nugget also seems to be getting a few longer tail feathers. How old are Gold Tops before you know for definite what sex they are? Could she be a he?

 

[liamthechicken]

Can I ask, how do you know he's a cockerel? Is it just by his looks? Because some hens can develop spurs, big combs and big wattles. My cockerel, Randy even sits in the nest boxes. I've also got a pullet with a very long tail who laid an egg the other day, so don't just base their sex on their looks. If you bought them as hens they are more than likely hens.

Never judge a book by its cover(;

 

[mjchicks]

Lol! When I say we bought 3 hens, I didn't explain properly. We got 3 chicks who were 6 weeks old, and there was no guarantee what sex they were. The lady at the farm said we could just swap any that ended up being boys. Unfortunately, she was out when we went back to collect, and her teenage son was brilliant in helping us, but couldn't tell very well what they were out of the full clutch. Tikka has developed the head and facial features pretty quickly in the last couple of weeks. He stands up straighter and has moulted some tail feathers already, making room for longer ones. Although Nugget appears to be a girl, as she is acting so similarly to Tikka, we wanted to know if it was possible she could be a he in disguise lol.

 

[Kelsie2290]

The behavior doesn't mean Nugget is a girl particularly, but chickens do develop the male facial features and rooster feathers at different rates, so it is quite possible you have more than one roo and Tikka just happens to be the most developed one right now.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I recommend you post photos of all three birds and we'll sex them for you.

The photo guidelines are in a brown box at the top of the forum.

 

[mjchicks]

 

[Tricoglossus]

Young silkies/silkie crosses are really hard to sex. The one on the left in the first picture has quite a wide comb, so I would be suspicious of that one being male (but not certain at this stage). Are these the original 3 you spoke of in your first post, or have you already swapped the one you said was male? And how old are they?

 

[mjchicks]

We've since swapped the 2 that were in the first picture. When the lady at the farm saw them, she said both were male.

 

[mjchicks]

Oops didn't mean to post just that! I'll have to take some pics of the new girls we got.