Thought I bought 4 Buff Orpington hens...

[UncleDougsChickens]

Heres a picture of them
https://imgur.com/a/sd46oea

As I said I thought they were all females when I got them but as you can see one has a more developed comb than the other 3. Do you think it could be a rooster? They're almost a month old at this point.

 

[ChickenRelatedUserName]

A little young to tell, but that's what our rooster looked like at that age.

 

[sawilliams]

It could be faster developing but still look like a pullet right now.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Heres a picture of them
https://imgur.com/a/sd46oea

As I said I thought they were all females when I got them but as you can see one has a more developed comb than the other 3. Do you think it could be a rooster? They're almost a month old at this point.

I certainly wouldn't be surprised if that's a cockerel... buff Orp hens do not grow a very large comb, and this one is getting an early start. Little too young to be sure. Watch for it to pink up or for wattles to sprout and you will confirm a cockerel.

 

[MrsEskew]

Chicken 1 is a cockerel.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Too young, repost pic at 8wks. I had couple of BO hens whose comb & wattles were HUGE but they laid their eggs ...

 

[dunnmom]

I certainly wouldn't be surprised if that's a cockerel... buff Orp hens do not grow a very large comb, and this one is getting an early start. Little too young to be sure. Watch for it to pink up or for wattles to sprout and you will confirm a cockerel.

My Buff Orp hens have big combs. Well, two out of six have smaller ones, but all the rest flop over.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

The Orpington breed standard calls for a small single comb. The ones we get from larger hatcheries often don't meet the standard, as they tend to focus on egg production over other traits. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your bird, but the ideal comb on a hen should be somewhat smaller than than that, and from my experience, the majority do have smaller combs.
Even if the pullet in question ends up with a larger comb, that is a lot of development for 4 weeks. Like I said, I won't be surprised if it's a cockerel, but UncleDougsChickens will need to wait another week or 2 to be sure one way or the other.

 

[dunnmom]

I wonder if big combs are a more common trait of the American version of the breed, rather than the English. I have American Orps that came from Cackle.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I wonder if big combs are a more common trait of the American version of the breed, rather than the English. I have American Orps that came from Cackle.

It could be. Buff Orps were admitted to the American Standard in 1903, and the ideal shows a small comb.I think it's more a result of the way they are bred and produced. Small breeders following the SOP only keep birds to breed that are close to the standard. They also see what type of offspring their breeders produce, and will not keep birds that produce unwanted traits, like large combs or pinched tails.

The larger hatcheries are focused on quantity over quality. Not saying they are inferior birds to have, but they are not bred to meet the SOP, they are bred to sell lots of chicks. Since the vast majority of the chicks are sold, the hatcheries do not have the full picture of what their breeders are producing. It's a different goal.
A typical hatchery buff Orpington would be disqualified at most poultry shows for not being close enough in type (shape and proportion) to the standard. I'm not looking for show birds, so they suit me fine.

Meet Peachy. 6yr old hatchery buff Orp and my son's favorite pet of all time, even with her pinched tail and comb that does not have the proper number of points.

Her comb doesn't compare to the size of her crop
Oh my!