Pullets, hopefully?

[Winderdear]

Hi all!

My four chicks are 5 weeks old now, and I would love to know if I indeed have all pullets as ordered. This is my first time keeping chickens. I bought day old chicks from Meyer Hatchery, and picked autosexing breeds thinking there would be 0% chance of getting any boys, but since I started reading this forum I’ve realized that isn’t necessarily true. Hopefully I got lucky!

I think the first three have female coloring, but the last one, Août (pronounced “ooh” as in ooh-la-la), I’m less certain about. She is always competing with my Welsummer, Mei, who is the biggest of the four. My gut instinct is that they’re all girls though, but what do I know?

Another thing, Mei’s feet were pink as a chick and are now turning yellow, is this normal? I, for some reason, thought they would be yellow from the beginning. It seems to be the same with Juin, my Dominique as well, but harder to tell with the dark wash on her legs.

Here they are:

Welsummer (Mei)





Dominique (Juin)





Cuckoo Marans (Juillet):





Blue Cuckoo Marans (Août):





I spend a lot of my time in this forum learning and admiring everyone’s beautiful chickens. I’ve been anxiously waiting for my chicks to be old enough so I can post here about them!

 

[Winderdear]

Just updating pics now that they’re 8 weeks old. I think they still all look like pullets. I can’t imagine any of them being boys at this point, but please let me know if you think I have anything to worry about! I’ll keep updating as they grow.

Mei (Welsummer)

Her favorite thing to do is perch on my leg and let me pet her until she falls asleep. I call her “The Lounge” because she prefers to laze about, and is often a pillow for the other girls, lol.

Juin (Dominique)



AKA “Little Rascal”. She gets into everything, and is very curious. She’s tiny compared to the others. Nearly impossible to chase her out of the underbrush when she’s cricket-hunting, that’s for sure!

Juillet (Cuckoo Marans)


Nickname: “Gentle Floof”. She is so fluffy that she gets hot very easily, poor thing. She is not super affectionate, and rather quirky. Very much the type to go her own way and at her own pace. She is extremely gentle when taking treats, never pinching our hands.

Août (Blue Cuckoo Marans)


AKA “Stomping Boots” because she will stomp on the ground with her feathered feet before she runs off to bump beaks and chests with the other girls in challenge. When they all go out to forage and one stray chick gets too far away (nearly always Juin), I’ll call her name (“Juin!”) and Août will come running after her to chase her back to me. It’s like having a tiny sheep dog who lays eggs (hopefully )!

 

[SchwartzLakeFarmNC]

All Pullets.
I don't see anything that would change my mind at this point.

 

[SchwartzLakeFarmNC]

I'd say all Pullets for now, I don't see anything screaming Cockerel.
Hopefully other will chime in and confirm.

 

[Tookie]

Yes, I say all pullets as of now!

For the feet changing color, that's normal as they mature.

 

[Winderdear]

Yes, I say all pullets as of now!

For the feet changing color, that's normal as they mature.

Yay! Thank you!

I had just assumed they had the wrong foot color because they were hatchery quality or something. Once they started turning yellow I got really confused, lol.

 

[Tired old Rooster]

Looking at the saddle feathers, I would say they are all pullets.

 

[-Chanticleer-]

You’ve got a flock of pullets.

 

[Winderdear]

Thank you Reinn and SchwartzLakeFarmNC, that's great news! Though I probably have no need to worry, I will keep adding photos up until the first eggs are laid, just to have a record.

We can keep roosters, but I thought starting with just girls would be easier for now. I'm going to stick to autosexing breeds until I have a dozen chickens. Then, if they are truly all girls when everything is all said and done, I'll celebrate and splurge on a fancy rooster from Greenfire Farms. Something like a Chamois Appenzeller Spitzhauben

I figure that if I get a non-game and non-table breed of roo who is of high quality and super handsome, then if I have to rehome him for some reason it shouldn't be difficult to find someone who will give him a flock of hens for breeding, or just keep him around for eye candy rather than use him for fighting or supper. ...At least, this is what I intend to tell my husband when I try to justify spending $70 on a single unsexed chick!

 

[Tookie]

Just updating pics now that they’re 8 weeks old. I think they still all look like pullets. I can’t imagine any of them being boys at this point, but please let me know if you think I have anything to worry about! I’ll keep updating as they grow.

Mei (Welsummer)
View attachment 3602157View attachment 3602158View attachment 3602156
Her favorite thing to do is perch on my leg and let me pet her until she falls asleep. I call her “The Lounge” because she prefers to laze about, and is often a pillow for the other girls, lol.

Juin (Dominique)
View attachment 3602160
View attachment 3602161
View attachment 3602162
AKA “Little Rascal”. She gets into everything, and is very curious. She’s tiny compared to the others. Nearly impossible to chase her out of the underbrush when she’s cricket-hunting, that’s for sure!

Juillet (Cuckoo Marans)
View attachment 3602173
View attachment 3602178
Nickname: “Gentle Floof”. She is so fluffy that she gets hot very easily, poor thing. She is not super affectionate, and rather quirky. Very much the type to go her own way and at her own pace. She is extremely gentle when taking treats, never pinching our hands.

Août (Blue Cuckoo Marans)
View attachment 3602186
View attachment 3602188View attachment 3602187
AKA “Stomping Boots” because she will stomp on the ground with her feathered feet before she runs off to bump beaks and chests with the other girls in challenge. When they all go out to forage and one stray chick gets too far away (nearly always Juin), I’ll call her name (“Juin!”) and Août will come running after her to chase her back to me. It’s like having a tiny sheep dog who lays eggs (hopefully )!

All pullets!