RIR x Buff Orpington and Australorp- boy or girl- updated pics

[sophiejw]

Hello,

Would anyone like to guess what sex these two are- the one on the left is a RIR x Buff Orpington, the one on the right is an Australorp. They are 14 weeks old.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5788337&l=b8ce067551&id=622246575

Thanks

 

[PunkinPeep]

I'm not entirely sure on the gender (i'm thinking female); it has been a while since i saw a 14 week old - but are you sure the one on the left is a cross? My rirxbo babies are a terra cotta color. That one looks red to me.

 

[sophiejw]

Hmm, I bought the hatching eggs off ebay- they were sold as RIR x Buff Orp. What do you think she might be? She is a lovely colour, she has the odd black feather here and there as well as the red feathers. I hope she is a she, as she came out of a lovely big egg, if she grew up to lay me lots of those I'd be happy. If she's a roo then I'm afraid she's going to be lunch....

 

[PunkinPeep]

I can't be sure, but she looks like my barnyard RIRs.

RIR boys usually get their big red combs pretty early. I can usually identify the boys by about 4 week because of their combs being so much bigger than the girls. If you can remember that, you might be able to say for sure.

For eggs or for lunch, RIRs are nice.

Also, at this point, if you take a closer look at the feathers - saddle feathers and hackle feathers, you might be able to tell more. They will have pointy ends, and the saddle feathers will start curling down against the side of the body.

 

[sophiejw]

Thanks for that

She was the only one out of the 6 eggs that hatched so no-one else to compare her with! She's roughly the same size as the Australorps which I assumed went with the Orp in her, I didn't realise RIR's were so big. Maybe she gets her size from the Orp and looks from the RIR. Are the hackle feathers the ones around the neck? I was looking at those today and they were a bit pointy.... but I might have been looking at the wrong ones. Hmm well guess we haven't much longer to wait to find out, I thought she was a girl but she was being very aggressive to one of the Australorps the other day which got me wondering!

 

[PunkinPeep]

Take a look at your hens for comparison. Their necks feathers (hackle feathers) are nice and rounded like a lacey doily around their necks. The male's will not be rounded like that.

Oh, RIRs are pretty big. The females aren't quite as big as BO females, but they're not small either. My main rooster is a RIR, and he's a big boy. The main difference is that BOs are broad chested, the RIRs not so much - that's my best observation anyway.

 

[Mrs. Feathers]

Your BA is a pullet ...I don`t have RIR or BO knowledge to give a valid opinion on the other

 

[sophiejw]

Thanks for the replies

Well about a week has gone by, I think it's been a big week for the RIR x BO or whatever she is- I looked at the feathers around her neck, looking pointy now not rounded, and hints of saddle feathers (if I got that right) now.

Please see updated pics from today-

Pointy feathers now I think, and my 5 year old said when we were out that Hamble (this "hen) just jumped on top of Snow White (one of my bantam hens)- hmm I think we might have an answer- ROO?

What do people think?

 

[PunkinPeep]

You have a beautiful (well, he'll be beautiful in a couple more months) RIR rooster.