Thinking this is a roo. What do you think?

[kwhites634]

Awesome!! Thanks everyone!! I'm so glad I found this site!
He's very friendly so far! He eats out of our hand and hops up on our hand to eat occasionally. He is a little skittish sometimes. We try to handle him very often and we always make sure we have treats for him when we do. We have not heard a crow yet. I read around the 4-5 month mark. Is that accurate?

Possible, but if there's a mature rooster on the premises, some young ones won't crow at all, unless they're ready to take on the "old man".

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Oh jeez! Thanks for the advice! I never would've thought that!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/beekisseds-rooster-speak.73664/

Check this out...

 

[cassie123]

View attachment 1447752 View attachment 1447758 Hi everybody!!
This is our Welsummer, roughly 12 weeks old. Was labeled as a pullet, but employee thought she might be a he. We want a rooster, so we were excited to see the changes! What are your thoughts? LIttle hen or little roo?

Cockerel

 

[Alexandra33]

Handsome cockerel!

I view things a little differently than most poultry keepers....how I've raised my roosters didn't affect their behavior whatsoever. No matter how much coddling/cuddling as youngsters took place, some simply never warmed up to me. And they turned out equally as aggressive as those with personable attitudes. As I am one of those who enjoys loving on their adolescent roos, I simply do so and let it be what it's going to be.

~Alex

 

[KDrake]

Handsome cockerel!

I view things a little differently than most poultry keepers....how I've raised my roosters didn't affect their behavior whatsoever. No matter how much coddling/cuddling as youngsters took place, some simply never warmed up to me. And they turned out equally as aggressive as those with personable attitudes. As I am one of those who enjoys loving on their adolescent roos, I simply do so and let it be what it's going to be.

~Alex

Thank you for your input! I enjoy loving on all our chickens, too! They grow so fast, I wish I would have done it even more when they were so much smaller

 

[Alexandra33]

Thank you for your input! I enjoy loving on all our chickens, too! They grow so fast, I wish I would have done it even more when they were so much smaller

You're more than welcome!
They're personable little creatures, that's for sure. Just gives you more reason to love the next batch even more.

~Alex

 

[Hensndoes]

Maybe I'm an outlier but... I handled all of my cockerels daily since I got them. 1 was 5 months when given to me for being "a bit feisty and punking on his father" and the other 5 I had from day olds. I didn't keep them all but every one of the was a respectful Roo. Most wouldn't eat from my hand when offered treats but none ever thought about crossing me or any other resident (dogs kids okay maybe the cat but only when the cat tries to stalk them).

I'm thinking it's in how you approach and build a relationship more than just Roos are prone to bastardliness.

 

[chicknwine3]

My RIR looked like yours. His first crow was at 5 weeks. At 8 weeks, he started crowing daily in the mornings. His comb was apparent at 4 weeks, although still orange then. No experience with chickens before this spring, but the rooster was OBVIOUS!!!