RIR...Roo or Hen?

[sarah1911]

I was fairly confident that we had a hen, but then I read the huge thread on identifying the sex of Rhode Island Reds and now I'm freaking myself out.

We recently had to re-home our beloved leghorn because "she" turned out to be a little roo. We had him for 2 months and loved him dearly, so it was very hard on the family and has me paranoid now. I our RIR is 7 weeks old (we got her March 16th and she was newly hatched) and she had a very distinct stripe on her head. She has never shown any anger or rooster-like behavior. When she was younger she had a little square tail. She seems rather large, but the others in our backyard flock are a bantam and an itty, bitty week old Ameraucana.

Thanks in advance for any help! I love how much information I receive here!

 

[sarah1911]

Here is a close up of the face...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

At 7 weeks that's a rooster.

 

[sarah1911]

At 7 weeks that's a rooster.

7-8 weeks. I'm not sure on the exact date that it hatched or how old it was when we bought it.

 

[sarah1911]

Well, she was a she after all. At 19 weeks we got our first egg! Or at least I'm assuming it's hers and not my little OEG bantam's. Found it in the nesting box this evening. Seems very light colored for a RIR, but maybe color comes later? Or is she not a RIR?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Well your hen looks like a hen for sure now, but the egg is too light for a RIR, I would suspect the game bantam on the egg. Congratulations.

 

[sarah1911]

Well your hen looks like a hen for sure now, but the egg is too light for a RIR, I would suspect the game bantam on the egg. Congratulations.

Really? It seems so big for her! Ha ha! I was really wondering about the light color though. And I assumed the RIR would be first since her crown reddened first and she's been noisy all week. Guess they fooled me. Thanks!!!

 

[Cowgirl71]

She's definitely a she, based on your most recent picture. If it were a rooster he'd have obvious saddle feathers coming in already. So that very likely is her egg.

Egg color can really vary amongst hatchery RIRs. Most hatcheries breed in some Leghorn to increase egg production, and so some of the birds lay lighter brown eggs as a result. Your hens eggs may change a shade or two, but they won't change much.

Thanks for posting an update, it's neat to see what a bird looks like at 7 weeks and then again at 18 weeks. She did have unusual comb development for her age, likely again due to Leghorn influence.

 

[summerb123]

She's definitely a she, based on your most recent picture. If it were a rooster he'd have obvious saddle feathers coming in already. So that very likely is her egg.

Egg color can really vary amongst hatchery RIRs. Most hatcheries breed in some Leghorn to increase egg production, and so some of the birds lay lighter brown eggs as a result. Your hens eggs may change a shade or two, but they won't change much.

Thanks for posting an update, it's neat to see what a bird looks like at 7 weeks and then again at 18 weeks. She did have unusual comb development for her age, likely again due to Leghorn influence.

i agree

 

[sarah1911]

She's definitely a she, based on your most recent picture. If it were a rooster he'd have obvious saddle feathers coming in already. So that very likely is her egg.

Egg color can really vary amongst hatchery RIRs. Most hatcheries breed in some Leghorn to increase egg production, and so some of the birds lay lighter brown eggs as a result. Your hens eggs may change a shade or two, but they won't change much.

Thanks for posting an update, it's neat to see what a bird looks like at 7 weeks and then again at 18 weeks. She did have unusual comb development for her age, likely again due to Leghorn influence.

Thank you so much for the input! I would have loved to have seen who it was, but of course it rained all day so they were both in the coop all day and we weren't outside.

Her comb and wattles were big and red very early on! Scared me because we had to re-home a leghorn that was a roo. Other than that though, she had no rooster like traits at all and looks just like a plump little red hen.