I'm about 100% certain these two little brats are cockerels by appearance. They are mutts - their mother is either a pure Rhode Island Red or a peacomb EE. Their father is this... mixed... something.
He has two back toes, a trait shared with the chick I dubbed "White". He also has feathered feet but neither of these two chicks got that trait, but three of our newer batch of 7 did.
Anyway.
Red and White. These chicks are practically feral. I have never in their 7 weeks of life been able to touch one. They were raised by a mostly psychotic broody hen who would flip out and screech if I so much as looked at her little fluffballs which resulted in them always hiding under her. Once they were older they were scared of me and have always run off. This was as close as I could get, zoomed in x4, with my phone to get a picture without them fleeing.
I apologize for them being blurry. I know you must HATE getting blurry pictures!
Red's front and White's butt.
Side view of White to see comb.
Here you can get a glimpse of Red's tail with the black tip.
Additional Physical Traits:
Red has a larger comb, and larger wattles, and developed his wattles a week earlier than White (around 5 weeks). Both of their combs began developing at 3 weeks old. Similarly, the 3 week old chicks have started developing their own combs now (there are 7).
White has larger legs than Red, but has two back toes, if that means anything.
Red was a light tan chipmunk-colored chick. He has since changed to a more reddish coloring.
White was a white chick with a cream head and brown stripes on the wings.
White is physically broader than Red, but Red is taller than White. Both are about half the size of their 'mother'.
White doesn't really have much of a tail.
--
Based on appearance I would say both are 100% roosters... however..
Behavioral Traits:
Red has shown many rooster traits: clucking and pointing at food to show White who runs over; making a low growl-screech sound when something flies overhead. (White does not display these behaviors at all).
Red is more confidant and willing to explore new areas.
White is skittish and was extremely resistant to moving nests. White is still the last one in the coop, going in a full 20 minutes after Red and the rest of the hens, because White panics at every move another chicken makes.
Red and White like to spar with no clear 'winner'.
Behaviorally, Red is 100% rooster and White is... well... this is why I'm confused.
Sorry about the lengthy post.
He has two back toes, a trait shared with the chick I dubbed "White". He also has feathered feet but neither of these two chicks got that trait, but three of our newer batch of 7 did.
Anyway.
Red and White. These chicks are practically feral. I have never in their 7 weeks of life been able to touch one. They were raised by a mostly psychotic broody hen who would flip out and screech if I so much as looked at her little fluffballs which resulted in them always hiding under her. Once they were older they were scared of me and have always run off. This was as close as I could get, zoomed in x4, with my phone to get a picture without them fleeing.
I apologize for them being blurry. I know you must HATE getting blurry pictures!
Red's front and White's butt.
Side view of White to see comb.
Here you can get a glimpse of Red's tail with the black tip.
Additional Physical Traits:
Red has a larger comb, and larger wattles, and developed his wattles a week earlier than White (around 5 weeks). Both of their combs began developing at 3 weeks old. Similarly, the 3 week old chicks have started developing their own combs now (there are 7).
White has larger legs than Red, but has two back toes, if that means anything.
Red was a light tan chipmunk-colored chick. He has since changed to a more reddish coloring.
White was a white chick with a cream head and brown stripes on the wings.
White is physically broader than Red, but Red is taller than White. Both are about half the size of their 'mother'.
White doesn't really have much of a tail.
--
Based on appearance I would say both are 100% roosters... however..
Behavioral Traits:
Red has shown many rooster traits: clucking and pointing at food to show White who runs over; making a low growl-screech sound when something flies overhead. (White does not display these behaviors at all).
Red is more confidant and willing to explore new areas.
White is skittish and was extremely resistant to moving nests. White is still the last one in the coop, going in a full 20 minutes after Red and the rest of the hens, because White panics at every move another chicken makes.
Red and White like to spar with no clear 'winner'.
Behaviorally, Red is 100% rooster and White is... well... this is why I'm confused.
Sorry about the lengthy post.
