Say it ain't so... Tell me I'm wrong and they aren't Roos!!!

[txbioteacher]

Thanks for all of your help... Any chance you could wager a guess as to what his cross is... because he's beautiful. I'd love to one day have another like him if I have to give him away.

 

[txbioteacher]

One final close-up of the comb.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, I see what you mean. That is more clear. I officially change my vote to male, sorry. An EE is a cross with possible Ameraucana and/or Araucana in the background. I'm not sure you could reliably reproduce him. He has that Columbian hackle thing going on (like Lt Brahmas and Columbian Wyandottes).

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I think they are both boys too. The red sexlink is colored like a cockerel and has the tell-tale comb & wattles. The EE's comb is too red/pink for a 7 week old pullet - he's a roo.

But..... the 3 ridge pea comb is not a factor - this 3 ridge comb is also seen in young EE pullets, but gets bigger, redder and thicker in cockerels or when the pullets mature.

This is the comb of one of my EE pullets - taken today at almost 9 weeks of age (it's hard to tell from the pic, but I can easily count the 3 rows of peas). Your roo has the same type of comb, but notice how his is redder and larger at only 7 weeks:

This is another of my pullets at 20 weeks of age (not laying yet)

This is the same pullet after she started laying (at 22 1/2 weeks) - she lost the 3 rows and now has a jumbled mess.

 

[txbioteacher]

Quote:
Thanks to you and speckledhen both for taking the time to post pictures!! I see what y'all are saying about the comb. That explains why there's been competition between the two since they were 4 weeks old.

I'm south of Houston about an hour... What do you suppose my chances are of finding these guys a home that won't eat them for dinner??

 

[speckledhen]

I dont know. I try not to think about where my boys are going if I have to sell a large number of cockerels. I've had good luck just giving them away sometimes, but sometimes, you just have to try not to think about it or be prepared to keep him longer till you can find a home where he will have his own girls and not carrots and potatoes around him.

 

[FluffyColor]

Looks like two girls to me...

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I don't understand why the hatchery would send you a male Red Star, they're supposed to be a sex-linked breed, meaning you can easily tell the males from the females at hatch just by looking at their color. The males are yellow-y white and the females are reddish-yellow. I know that vent sexing, which is what they do with the EEs & many other breeds, has a 10% chance of error.

This is why I advise every chicken owner to have a Plan B in place for any unwanted roosters, no matter how they obtain their chicks, and even a Plan C for the roosters they want to keep but later turn out to be aggressive.

I wish you every bit of success in finding new homes for these guys. Try posting notices, with photos, on your Craigslist, at your feed store, on the Buy/Sell/Trade section of this forum. But you may also have to adopt a "don't ask/don't tell" policy with the people who want them. Or select the people you most want to see better nourished. With a typical ratio of 1:10 for mixed flocks, plus all the other flocks that have no roosters, I figure a good 90% of all roosters hatched have their purpose on a plate. Even handsome and/or friendly ones. Only the very best, or the luckiest, get kept as pets or flock husbands.

It's really not the worst thing that could happen to a rooster. And a very good thing for many families.