Some BANTAM SULTAN questions.

[magsrags]

I have 3, near 8 week old Bantam Sultans. Adorable and nice & small. Does anyone out there raise sultans so they can share some info with me? Such as when do wattles begin to develop on roos.....or when a roo 's coloring might begin to redden as compared to the hens? Mine all have very pale coloring as yet ....no sign of wattles.....so I am trying to determine when they might begin to change & show their true sex. They don't even squabble amongst themselves showing male/female behaviors. Sure are a mysetery to me.
Do the boys crests grow in differently than the girls do ....such as Polish birds do?
Any help appreciated. These guys are a very new breed to me and the 3 of them are clones..... so I can only tell them apart looking really closely..

 

[spotsplus]

I had six white sultans as chicks. They were all very friendly and mellow. All got along. I sold them all by the time they were 2 months old so I am probably not much help. I could only tell if one was a boy if they showed the hackles raised to a known little roo.

 

[magsrags]

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thank you, I have them in with a serama who is very dominant and they are not raising any feathers as of yet.:<)
Really non-combatant to the extreme.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

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I love Sultans. They're just the best. I had a bantam rooster who the friendliest rooster I ever had and every day he was out there with the girls was a happy one. When we had company over that brought there young children, the kids would throw bread out to the birds and my Sultan would catch some and give it out to our hens.

He would often follow visitors around.

Sultans are like the even friendlier version of the Polish, minus the feathered feet and 5 toes difference.

I don't have any pictures of my boy when he was any less than 5 months, sadly. But just look for those pointy, folded back crest feathers and longer tails. Maybe even saddle feathers, though even female Polish can have saddle feathers present. (So maybe, for the sake of comparison, saddle feathers aren't a good idea of something to looks for.)

Females will have cup-shaped rounded crests. At nearly 8 weeks, they should look like clones. That main tell-tale sign will come up sometime soon.

Males aren't usually aggressive unless threatened. The only time I even saw my male fight was when there was a powershift. I do remember that the redness in his face began to show at around 4 months, but I'm biased as I've only had one Sultan as an adult. (I have another now, she's a pullet, 12 weeks old, not a bantam.) Hens usually stay some sort of pinkish shade when roosters begin to turn red. It's all about comparing.

ETA: Smiley trouble. Lol.