Ugh! - I'm sorry.

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

The only one even slightly rooish to me is Ginger, although I'm far from an expert. I can see why 'Grandma' would be confused about her, but not the other two in your pics. Depending on her breed, though, she could just be a faster-developer (I have this going on with my New Hampshire Red girls. Slightly larger combs than the others, but they are just bigger hens all over).

As for Grandma, my advice is just laugh it off. Crack some joke about how she's upset that she's gonna miss her Rooster Pot Pie or whatever, and walk away. Yeah, maybe she'll give you a "Well, I never.." look, but just keep it lighthearted. Some people just have to be nasty and negative, no matter what the situation. You can't reason with them, so don't bother trying. Let her have her opinion, and know that it is NO REFLECTION on you. And tell your poor Dad that until your chicks either crow or lay an egg, you aren't ready to give up on them all being hens.

-Meghan

 

[BeckyLa]

Listen, I'm sorry......I lost my Grandma not to long ago and I miss her very much so I guess I'm still a bit sensitive. And I've seen how so many young people don't even like to be around their Grandparents so I guess I just thought.........sounds like I guessed wrong. You just sounded that way to me. I'm sorry.

 

[hinkjc]

Ginger is definitely a boy. The others, I'm not so sure yet. Spanky could be either at this time. The redness in the comb would make me think boy too, but the wattles are small, so could be a faster maturing pullet. Sometimes you can see pointy neck and saddle feathers. Pointy feathers usually means boy and rounded feathers in those areas usually mean girl. I hope the others turn out to be girls for you.

Jody

 

[3peeps]

BeckyLa, I thought your comment was nice...as an "outsider" I read it in a well-meaning way.

Equest94, I can relate a bit. I just got three chicks and people either love the idea or are really annoying, mean, socially inept, etc.

I have a new mental therapy when someone is totally rude...I just joke to myself, "You are now on my Do NOT Resuscitate list."

 

[FluffyChickenMama]

some do look like hens.. ginger?? .. My hens are 9 mths old and they fight like you would see game roosters fighting, I mean in the air and screaming.. and I think one might be gender confused (is that politically correct??) because.. well..lets just say she really does think and act like shes a rooster..

 

[Chickenlover88]

I think ginger and spanky are both roosters. Look at Spanky's coloring it is black breasted red. Only roosters have that color. I believe Bo peep is definatly a girl.

 

[Equest94]

Thank you to all of your replies and help.

BeckyLa - I'm really sorry for your loss. That's the bad thing about reading posts, is that you don't know what tone the person is typing in and therefore resort to assuming... no hard feelings.

3Peeps - thank you for understanding...

Queen of the Lilliputians - I am somewhat thinking "Ginger" is fast maturing...she/he seemed to have sprouted and developed quite faster then the others...I believe she/he is a Brahma but could actually be a "mut" (just as my other chicks may be) - we got them from this lady that had a bunch of different and unsual breeds because she's big on showing them, but they were pretty much left to free range on their farm....I'm not sure if Brahma's are fast maturing or what.. Right now "Ginger" seems to look very proportionate, like a fully grown hen...the classic story-book icon of the "Little Red Hen"but again I don't know... as I said earlier, the comb and waddle grew fast; however, it's been almost a month since that and neither seemed to have grown in size....???

FluffyChickenMama - (also sharing the response to Queen of the Liliputians) haha, yeah everytime my relatives or friends come over and see my birds hopping at each other they just all assume they are roosters. They like to joke around saying "look! Cock fight!: and take bets - nothing ever goes past the hopping and slight chest bumping...they seem to do it more out of excitement rather then aggression. I don't doubt that I have 1 or 2 males... but until I hear or see something "roostery", I'm a bit....well I'm really hoping for hens, so until I see a "roostery" action or hear them crow...I'm going to stick to my flock being girls, lol.. anyways I'm just confused about how to tell their genders because I never raised fowls before...and just like your chickens, mine really get my mind flustered .

hinkjc - I'm sorry, I am new to chickens...what exactly are saddle feathers? Are they like the equivalent of saddle bags on people...like in the waist/hip area? If so none of them have pointy feathers in that area, well, I shouldn't quiet say that yet...that seems to be the only place that their "baby-down fluff" is still under their just formed adult feather shoots; however, "Spanky" is very feather bulky in the back-end/hip area....the feather just seems to puff out at the sides as if she/he were sitting on a little feather duster or one of those weird russian hats, lol - I'm not sure if that means anything gender-wise.

Chickenlover88 - only roosters are black chested with red heads? See this is where I'm confused, "Spanky" now is a bit bigger than "Ginger" and still has barely any waddle development (Idk if that really matters in this case)...what about sex link pullets...again me being new to this, I don't quite understand the terminology...what does sex link mean? Some one told me it has to do with opposite gender coloring/feathering, but that could be wrong...Also, not that this proves anything thing, but some one once sent me this link...saying that the one hen in the picture looks like my "Spanky" so they believed she/he is a female: http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f194/MCFNEO/?action=view&current=HPImage4.jpg/ (I saved the pic under my photobucket because I wasn't sure if the site would still show it by the time some one clicked it to check it out... anyways, the one of the bottom right is the "Spanky twin") As for "Bo-Peep", I have to flipping idea of what to even think of thatb bird, lol... Supposodly her/him and "Spanky" are Ameraucanas/EE...but again the the thing of them being possibly "muts" I like Bo-Peep might have some Silkie blood...she/he has really weird feathering on the head like a mini mushroom buzz-cut that some [human] boys get and a slight bearding....as for the comb, it's red but totally smooth, and I don't see any waddle development whatsoever... Bo-Peep is also a bit smaller than Ginger and Spanky, I don't kow if that's do to with age, breed, or gender, or possibly not eating as much as the other 2...


***NOTE: Yes, I am really really hoping I have hens, it would save me a ton of trouble later; however, I don't want anyone to think I am denying the fact that I [might] have roosters... like I said, I'm new to this chicken business and while trying to sex my chickens, I'm also trying to learn a few things such as what sex link is, how do you know if you have a fast matuing hen, or a slow maturing rooster?, what/where saddle feathers are, how old are roosters when they start to crow, when/can hens first lay eggs? etc... So please excuse me for being so ignorant and asking so many werid question...I'm just trying to know as much as I can and look at everything from all the stand points and views before jumping to further conclusions....Again thank you all for responding and if there is anyone who can give me further thoughts or answer my questions it will all be very much appreciated. Thanks again, and thank you in advance.

 

[BeckyLa]

I think is was Wes in Tx that said "The only stupid question is the one not asked" (Becky's version). We've all been where you are at one time or another so ask away!

 

[Chickenlover88]

Sorry to have confused you. This is a black breasted red rooster. Only roosters have that color pattern. I'm sorry to say but a pullet of that age shouldn't have a large red comb. The comb should be small and pink like your bo peep.
This is an example of a bb red rooster.
The hen in the pic is a black sexlink which is completely different than your chick. Black sexlinks are all black with red on their heads. Black breasted reds are all red with black on their chests (like your chick) Your chick is starting to get the same coloring

Also how many toes does spanky have? He looks kind of like a male salmon faverolle does at that age..

A hen of that coloring

 

[thndrdancr]

Well, I am really pretty new to chickens, but..I must admit, my red s link hen grew wattles and a comb very early, then it just stopped, just like yours. I was worried for a while there, even tho I knew she was a sex link, I was wondering, cuz my lil EE never did get any wattles.

They are both 14 weeks now, and sorry I dont have any close up pics to show, but I would say Red grew her wattles and comb early, like 8 to 9 weeks. So I suppose there is hope yet!