Sharkie, Splash, Graylee, and Fiona - 6 week Gender check please

[hens4thehudds]

Hello, I have 2 Lavender Ameraucanas( Graylee and Fiona), 1 Blue Laced Red Wyandotte -BLR(Splash), and an Olive Egger (Ameraucana and French Copper Maran) Mix ( its name is Sharkie Crocodile Snakie- my 3 year old little boy named it) . I think I have 2 rooster and 2 hens. All these hatched on Aug 16th so they are about 6 weeks old.

First up Splash - my guess hen






Second Fiona or Heona?? I think this one is Roo




Fiona Is the lighter/bigger chicken on the right


com shot (5 weeks)

3rd Graylee - I think hen ( smaller of the 2 Lavendars) Gralyee is the gray one in the middle by the bucket.




4th and Finally ("Sharkie Crocodile Snakie) EExCopper Maran Olive egger
I hope pullet but its one of the bigger ones in the group so ???
5weeks


6weeks





Group shots
they are 6 weeks old.









Any and all opinions are welcome! Thanks for you time.

 

[hens4thehudds]

I hope that I have some wyandotte, ameraucana, and olive egger experts out there to help me out

 

[hens4thehudds]

Any help would be appreciated

 

[TheJadeChicken]

They all look like Pullets to me at this age.

 

[hens4thehudds]

I hope so they are a sweet bunch!

 

[hens4thehudds]

WEEKLY UPDATE !! I have one Olive Egger, 2 Lavendar Ameraucanas, and a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte,

Up first, is
#1 Sharkie Crocodile Snakie the Olive Egger this is a mix between Ameraucana and Black Copper Maran ( I think/hope pullet) It is the black chicken in the middle.




















#2 Is Fiona (Heeona) Lav Ameraucana- Pretty sure it is a rooster- he is BIG in terms of size, 3 row comb, the comb is big, and pink, square head, feathers on the saddle are starting to drape, tail feathers seem to be getting curly.





Fiona is the one on top Graylee is the one on the bottom right note the difference in the size and color of the comb.













#3 Is Graylee also a Lav Ameraucana, -I think pullet, no real comb, not pink, way smaller than my Fiona, no saddle feathers draping and no curling of tail feathers



Fiona is on the left note how much bigger it is than Graylee in the center.

Fiona Left, Graylee center



# 4 is Splash is a BLR Wyandotte- I think pullet for all the same reasons I think Graylee is a pullet.










Thanks for your opinions!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

IMHO....

At 7 weeks (?) if I calculate correctly from your last post date to this update....although they look older to me...about 8 weeks of age or so.

Graylee and the BLRW are hens...pretty sure there especially with the BLRW as the pattern is hen and the rose comb is where you would want to see it for a pullet at this age (7 weeks?).

However, while I'd watch that Fiona and Sharkie might be roos...their combs are a bit bigger, some extra fluff on Fiona's back, some spikiness in Sharkie's neck...I wouldn't write them off for roos quite yet. I'd give it a couple more weeks as they could go either way. I've read several posters state they have girls with 3 row pea combs... and Fiona's comb is not as large as I've seen on other 7 week old roos. More importantly neither is very red but rather still paler pink.

Also, it is a bit early for saddles or hackles to develop even if it were a roo.

Another trick to see if the extra fluff is actually a saddle developing is to go out at night with a flashlight and shine it on the feathers of your birds. The roo feathers will be very shiny on the saddle and the hackles. I could see the shine before I could see the actual spiky feathers.

My 2 cents
Lady of McCamley

 

[hens4thehudds]

IMHO....

At 7 weeks (?) if I calculate correctly from your last post date to this update....although they look older to me...about 8 weeks of age or so.

Graylee and the BLRW are hens...pretty sure there especially with the BLRW as the pattern is hen and the rose comb is where you would want to see it for a pullet at this age (7 weeks?).

However, while I'd watch that Fiona and Sharkie might be roos...their combs are a bit bigger, some extra fluff on Fiona's back, some spikiness in Sharkie's neck...I wouldn't write them off for roos quite yet. I'd give it a couple more weeks as they could go either way. I've read several posters state they have girls with 3 row pea combs... and Fiona's comb is not as large as I've seen on other 7 week old roos. More importantly neither is very red but rather still paler pink.

Also, it is a bit early for saddles or hackles to develop even if it were a roo.

Another trick to see if the extra fluff is actually a saddle developing is to go out at night with a flashlight and shine it on the feathers of your birds. The roo feathers will be very shiny on the saddle and the hackles. I could see the shine before I could see the actual spiky feathers.

My 2 cents
Lady of McCamley

Thanks I really appreciate such a thorough evaluation! I will definitely try the flashlight trick. The chicks hatched together on Aug 16th? I have a pretty good feeling "Fiona" is a rooster, but I would be really glad to be wrong, because he/she is a real sweetheart. As far as Sharkie, I am hoping for some olive green eggs but I am totally stumped. They are both the biggest and most dominant of the group, I guess I have read hens can be that way to just depending on pecking order. But again, I really appreciate your help! Do you know much about the Black Copper Maran x Ameraucana cross for sharkie are there any coloration giveaways that may start to develop?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Thanks I really appreciate such a thorough evaluation! I will definitely try the flashlight trick. The chicks hatched together on Aug 16th? I have a pretty good feeling "Fiona" is a rooster, but I would be really glad to be wrong, because he/she is a real sweetheart. As far as Sharkie, I am hoping for some olive green eggs but I am totally stumped. They are both the biggest and most dominant of the group, I guess I have read hens can be that way to just depending on pecking order. But again, I really appreciate your help! Do you know much about the Black Copper Maran x Ameraucana cross for sharkie are there any coloration giveaways that may start to develop?

I've not had BCM/Ameraucana cross, so I can't tell you what to expect...but I'm not sure anyone could with certainty because Ameraucana so often means Easter Egger, and that can make it hard. I would think it likely you would get some color on the wing bows though as EE's males tend to have that and BCM males certainly do.

As to Fiona, lavender is not a breed standard color, so it has to be a mix to get that color which makes it an Easter Egger...and whenever you add mixes, the genetic dice get rolled and you can have quite a bit of variation. Here are some photos of one breeder who is breeding for Lavender Ameraucana/Easter Eggers
http://chickenaddictsanonymous.weebly.com/lavender-ameraucana.html

Also Ameraucana standards show a certain fluff on the back of the hen (which I think is called the cushion vs. the saddle on the males). Look at these photos of adult Blue female vs. male, and you'll see what I mean and why yours could still be a female if the feathers are round and layerd and not spiky and cascading.
http://www.ameraucana.org/scrapbook.html

I'm not saying your Fiona isn't a roo...it's just a little too much fluff for a hen but not enough spike that I think you can wait a few weeks before deciding for certain. Saddles often don't come in until later,.sometimes not until 5 or 6 months. Also, her/his comb is still not bright red but pale pink.

Also, I've had pullets be very snotty with their flock mates, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I've also had some mixed breed pullets get large very quickly and even have extra large legs. And they lay lovely large eggs.

I just spent 16 weeks trying to figure out my grab bag mixes. I hatched eggs that were supposed to be true layer breeds with the warning that some may have Ameraucana in them. Well the best I can figure is they had an EE roo over various hens...who may not have been purebred either. Easter Eggers are of course a mixed breed to start with, so whenever you add them into the mix, you can get a lot of variation.

I got beautiful and vigorous birds, but they changed almost weekly in the feathering leaving me guessing on sex and final coloration....which is why I'd have you hold out hope.

If curious, you can see my diary of their hatching with my June 2013 album in my signature line and see all the color changes!

Lady of McCamley

 

[hens4thehudds]

Yes I would be curious to see the diary of the chicks hatching, I am always trying to find pictures of EE or Ameraucanas or BCM to try to figure out if there is any predicable physical characteristics that I can focus in on. I am always eager to hear the "experts" just cause so many of you on BYC know so much and I am just hoping to glean from all of you

Thanks again for all the input!