Spitzhauben and Blue Ameraucana sex?

[Savitar]

I posted a while back needed help/confirmation that 3 out of 4 of my Salmon Favorelles were roosters (they were).

Now, I'm pretty sure all 4 of my 12 week old Blue Ameraucanas are roosters. They look virtually identical; one has crowed (yellow band). No coloration to speak of on the comb, or obviously any growth there. But am starting to see longer, droopy feathers at the base of the tail. No pointy feathers on the shoulders though.

And now for the Spitzhauben (13 weeks). An earlier thread showed ID'ing sexes by the wattle & comb growth, so at 7 weeks, I started checking that out. Sure enough, two of them had redder wattle/combs & were starting wattle growth. Then at 8 weeks, both of those chicks starting crowing. Coincidentally, it seemed that all the pullets had "wilder" hairdos - much more growth to their crests. That is still true today.

But there's a third chick, that has red wattles that are growing more than the pullets, although they're not nearly as large as the other two cockerels. Its comb is also not as big as the crowing boys. But the ear lobes are pretty visible, and in the last day or so, there's the start of droopy tail feathers. This one has not crowed, but another rooster? First three photos are of the chick in question; then one of the crowing roosters to show wattle/comb difference; then one of the pullets (hopefully!)

Sorry for poor quality photos!

 

[murphynhazel12]

The first two Ameraucaunas look to be roosters, but I can't really tell with the second two- need more close up shots of comb and feathering. Your mystery Spitzhauben also looks to be an adorable roo- I think I see saddle feathers coming in (male specific feathering).

 

[Savitar]

I take lousy photos, will try again. In the last shot of the Ameraucanas (with 2 in the photos), Mr. Yellow Band on the right is the one crowing, so that one I'm certain of.

P.S. I said "droopy tail feathers" when I meant saddle feathers.

 

[JedJackson]

The uneven coloring of the Ameraucanas, especially the darker patches at the shoulders, indicate males to me. I think you have 4 cockerels.

The Spitzhaubens are all males except for the last photo. That is a pullet. She looks intermediate between a buff spangled Spitz and a buff laced Polish to me. I think some crossing has happened with these.

 

[Savitar]

Thanks for the input. The breeder of the Spitzhauben has imported Canadian and European lines, and has some colors that aren't as common (from what they say on their webpage.) Also, the Spitzhaubens' coloration has been changing a lot lately, from their first feathers to teenage feathers and seemingly changing again. I wasn't aware that they molted so much in the beginning - which is how I'm assuming the color is changing. The top male, for example, was always spotted/lace until last week - now, not so much.