Sleepy chick and possible male? Please help a newbie.

[SarahGrace]

Hello all,

I have searched this plentiful sight for information for my problem and may have just missed the answer, but I decided to try asking my questions here. I just got my first little family of chicks and they are about 6-8 weeks old (3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Barred Plymouth Rock). I'm worried a bit about the littlest one because it seems she is sleeping all the time. She has regular poos and eats and drinks with the rest of the crew, but she is sleeping pretty much all the time. Also, I am concerned about another of the smaller ones of the group because it is exhibiting a strange behavior that the others are not. It seems to be trying to 'garble' or 'holler out' in a sense....it will tip its head back and make an open-beaked sort of chuff and then go on about its business...does this mean its male? And please, is my other little one ill? I really appreciate all the help I can get and I apologize if you've had to answer these before and I just haven't been able to find them on here. I'm so glad a forum like this exists for newbies like me! I'm super excited about raising my chickens and so grateful to have the help of all of you wonderful people! Thank you.

 

[Henwillbehens@]

well i am sorry about your one hen i really don't know ,but the other one that makes that noise could be a male but it could be a female because my hens make noises after laying a egg or if they are scared i hope someone can help you more on that good luck!

 

[SarahGrace]

Thanks for your reply! I think I'll give my little yelper the benefit of the doubt and keep calling her a her...and good news on the other, Beatrice, she's perked up and seems to be just fine

I'm so glad to have heard some positive feedback. Thanks again!

 

[newbiechickenfan]

I'm new to this too. But here's what I experienced with my little ones which are now 22 weeks old. At around 6-8 weeks one of the girls (?) started getting a comb that was bigger then the others (that little thing on the top of their head). It also started developing different looking feathers. I posted a picture here on the blog and everyone confirmed that my little Penny was actually Petey. He started his funny rooster crowing shortly thereafter. Good luck and I'm still waiting for my girls to lay their first eggs.

 

[dixieland]

Some of our boys started using their voices at 6-7 weeks, but fingers crossed that yours is just a noisy girl!