Roo or hen? Sumatra? Two newbies and they are quite different - help

[Egg13]

We have a flock of six chickens. Four of them are hybrid/brown shavers and we believe our two new ones are black sumatras (although my husband got them as a surprise for me and didn't really grill her about what they were, conditions etc). We never wanted a rooster, (we were told they were both hens) we do live in the country and have plenty of land where they can all free range (so don't care if they crow) but are both too busy with our jobs to deal with raising many young chicks. However, I suspect that one of the new sumatras is a roo. He/she had pretty serious scaly leg mites when we got him/her but my husband believed his/her different feet were just part of the breed (it's not). Anyway, after catching and treating him/her a few times with a big soak in olive oil, toothbrush treatment and Neem oil, his/her scales have begun to improve massively and the big build up behind the feet has started to disappear which is great. However, the removal of the build up has revealed spurs!!! He/she also has a comb that the other sumatra(?) does not and is the first and noisiest in morning (although not a typical crow - yet).

Sorry for the long post but am just wondering first, how to properly assess that it is a roo (they both seem very young but already seem quite different in characteristics, comb etc), what breed he/she might be, how to care for him and how, with such a small flock, to ensure that everyone gets on well together. At the moment the two sumatras are roosting in the trees (we are in Queenstown NZ and have no predators) - the others are in a coop but all of them do hang out a bit during the day and mingle.

 

[featheredplanets]

Not sure on breed, it's quite a hard picture to judge by. Cockerels will have pointed saddle feathers and will of course, crow, or at least attempt to. Though hens can and do grow spurs too. If you could get some more pictures in natural light and a side view of the chicken in question, that would be helpful

 

[Egg13]

Thank you, I'll try and get a better photo tomorrow. They were very timid when we first got them and over the last couple of weeks, they have become a bit more friendly so it has been difficult to try and get a good photo. I've got another photo here of the two of them. It is hard to see from the photo but one has a comb and wattles (in the foreground) and one has nothing of the sort. They are apparently the same age? The one in the background has no sign of spurs (but also no scaly leg) and no sign of any wattles or comb. They are our pets, so we will still keep him if he is a roo. He/she does attempt to crow but both he/she and his sister make completely different sounds than the ginger girls so it is difficult to tell. Plus, being in country, there are a few roosters around that sound different to this one's attempts.

 

[Egg13]

He also has a bit of a wee mohawk so not sure which breed that is an indicator of. He/she is still very young so any advice would be most welcome.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Sumatra cockerels/roosters can grow multiple spurs as well as the pullets/hens. Your birds don’t look like pure Sumatras, the body type is off as well as the comb & wattle color. Sumatras have red combs and wattles. Here are some pictures from google of sumatras. Hope this helps.

 

[Egg13]

thank you, for your response, as much help as we can get, we really appreciate it. The second to last one you posted, very much looks like the one we are sure is a girl. There is definitely no red in any of them. Their feathers have a green tinge in the sun but as you can see the other one is black, black. The one with the healthy feet is black everywhere but pink under her feet and very healthy, she has gold eyes. The other one with the poor feet (who we suspect may be a roo) is black absolutely, eyes, under feet, everything.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Since the comb of the possible cockerel is black I’m thinking it’s possible that it is part ayam cemani or svarthöna with possibly silkie or polish added as well.

 

[Egg13]

Since the comb of the possible cockerel is black I’m thinking it’s possible that it is part ayam cemani or svarthöna with possibly silkie or polish added as well.

Since the comb of the possible cockerel is black I’m thinking it’s possible that it is part ayam cemani or svarthöna with possibly silkie or polish added as well.

@Brahma Chicken5000, I thought so too (not silkie as much but see why you might think that) since the rest of the body is very feathered) but recognise the common traits, but with the polish,i definitely see her in there especially since he/she is completely black but with the hair tuft at the top of the head. I'm just so curious and because he/she is so different from the other one who really just looks like a large black bird (not a hen at all), literally like a big black bird. I really appreciate all of your expertise!

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I’m happy to help. I’ve only been raising chickens for the past 2 years, so I’m not an expert. I have voraciously read up on chickens in the past 2 years, though I still have much to learn.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

one big thing to look for, no matter what the breed, is that male chickens have different saddle feathers than female chickens. No matter what. Check out this pic and you should be able to judge at this age what you have...