Smaller Rooster?

[Mezzy Chicks]

At 2 1/2 weeks old, my one rooster chick is half the size of the others - and he has no tail feathers yet. I've watched him eating and drinking and there doesn't seem to be any issue with him and all the ladies. Is it normal for him to be so much smaller? He is a RIR. The other 16 chicks are RIR, BA (which are huge compared to all the others), Speckled Sussex and Barred Rock.

 

[Chicken Girl1]

If it is 2 1/2 weeks old what makes you so sure it is a cockerel?

 

[Mezzy Chicks]

Its the one the feed mill told us was the rooster we ordered.... this particular order was one RIR rooster and 4 Speckled Sussex, so it was clear which one he was.

 

[DuckGirl77]

I had a really tiny RIR cockerel but that was because he was hatched from a small egg. Was yours always little?

 

[Mezzy Chicks]

I think he was a little on the small side when we got them. But the others just seem to be growing much faster - and sprouting tail feathers.

 

[DuckGirl77]

I had a rooster that took a while to grow tail feathers - or maybe he never had tail feathers at all; I don't remember, but that was because he was an Araucana, or part Araucana, or something like that. Does yours look like most RIRs of that age, or does he look like he could be a mix?

 

[Mezzy Chicks]

His coloring is different. I thought it was just because he was a rooster. I finally spouted a couple tail feathers and he is catching up in size. I sure hope he isn't a mix! I was hoping to breed my own chicks next year... oh well , I guess we'll just learn as we go along!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Many roosters feather out slower than the girls so sometimes they look smaller.