SLW ? and Red sussex ???

[Rennie]

Hi all, Im fairly new to keeping chickens .. Ive had 3 for about 5 months now.. I believe they are sussex reds (from the internet pics lol) They are all doing great ..getting fat and laying consistantly..

Today i recieved what i think is a wyandott cockerel .. Which i put in with my girls straight away .. They seemed a bit wary at first which is understandable .. after i hosed them down though they seem ok.. They are all tucked up in bed together now lol so they must be..

Anyway the main reasons for me posting on here is :

I would like to know if there is anyway that i can tell the age of the hens and cock just by looking at them (because i dont know when or where they were hatched)
I personally think that the hens are fully grown adults and the cock is about 5 months ..but im just guessing.. just on their size and tempremant ..Im hoping that more experience keepers would tell me more


and

Another question is will they mate ? -


Thanks for any info or help in advance

 

[jerseygirl1]

New myself, but I thought new birds had to be quarantined for 30 days before being introduced (slowly, albeit) to an existing flock?

 

[Rennie]

I thought that too..but decided what the heck and put them in .. whats the worst that could happen ??..big fat sunday dinner lol (i dont want that to happen though)

I was thinking of seperating the run and house but its alot of work for something that might not make a difference

 

[cthrash1]

Hi,
The reason for a quaranteen is the new chicken(s) can be carrying a disease that may not be showing right away... When you move/transfer a chicken it gets stressed, which lowers their resistance to disease... So if they are carrying something or were around sick chickens before you get the birds then they can carry the disease to your established flock... So the worse that could happen is you could lose your whole flock from just one sick newly introduced chicken. It is always a good idea to quaranteen for 3-4 wks if you have the space to do so... Some of us don't have the extra space so we just have to take our chances or invest in a cage for the newbie to stay in.

That is a really pretty bird, but do you have a side view cause from the front it looks like a girly to me... The males usually have a white saddle. It still looks young maybe 3-5 mo.s, or its a hatchery bird because they usually fill out fatter than that. Can't tell on your buffs... But I was reading somewhere that when you look at a prospective new chicken pet, you could tell if they are younger buy how smooth the legs are... supposedly they are rougher as they age or something like that(unless they've had leg mites).

 

[Rennie]

To be honest the thought of disease never crossed my mind .. I got the bird from a friend of a friend.. simply because of room issues.. I realy hope now that its clean..

Im guessing it would be to late now to quarantine seeing how they have been together most of the day,

I must admit when i first saw it i thought it was a girl .. but after a while with it i started to believe it was a cock as i was told ..

Ill try and get a good side view of it so you can see more.. its a show off though and always looks at the camera lol ..


What about mating ?..If this is a cock..will there be any issues in mating with the older girls ..


Thanks for the replys.. its helped a bit (and my guess was nearly right)


edit .. I have this pic but its a bit poor

.. .cant realy see much .. but if i say he / she has green tail feathers does that help ?

 

[gvntofly05]

Looks like a Silver Laced Wyandotte Cockerel from your second pic!

 

[Rennie]

that sounds good to me ..thats what i was hoping to hear

...

 

[chseeads]

....and no, there won't be any problems mating. Depending on his age, if he's not started thinking about that yet, then it might be a while before he does...but if he is, or once he is, mature, age won't matter.

 

[Rennie]

Quote:
again ..what i was hoping to hear .. so its just down to whether my girls let him ..


Thanks

 

[DianeB]

When I first read the title, I thought wow a discussion about the place of birds in the evolutionary timeline. The age of fish, the age of dinosaurs or lizards, the age of mammals and the age of birds.

Yeah, I'm weird!!

My best guess is at least 5 months. The hens look like they have just started their egglaying career.