Ugh... what are these babies!?

[4cheepers]

Today I had some chicks foisted on me. It was either me or they were going to the SPCA!? They were a science project... who does that!? Anyway, here are some pics. I REALLY don't want a roo, and definitely not three... but we might have to figure something out, because I don't think anyone would take them and I'm certainly not dumping them at the SPCA or something... these poor babies are terribly socialized, skittish and terrified of us, it's making me so sad, especially since my girls come running to me as soon as they see me. They're "three or four weeks old."

Pretty sure they're leghorns, probably?

This is a roo, right?

Not sure on this one... comb seems big to me.

Not sure on this one, but same thing.

I'll be bummed if they're all roos but we'll figure something out...

 

[Nikkumz]

id say the top is a roo and the other two are pullets, but im new

 

[4cheepers]

Quote:
Oh, I so hope so... I can live with one roo!

 

[silkiechicken]

All three are leghorn roosters. They aren't necessarily poorly socialized.... leghorns are ALWAYS flighty. That is their breed behavior. Even the friendly come up to you to be "loved" ones are flighty if you move too fast or a dust particle startles them.

Raise them for another 2-3 months and use them for soup or fried chicken. They should dress out about 2lbs each or so.

 

[rsf31tmp]

they are all roos and about to hit a real ugly stage....


1) give them some meat bird feel

2) get a sharp ax

3) eat

 

[4cheepers]

Quote:
Aw, darn. Thanks. Not sure what we're going to do but we're suburban chicken owners so not sure how well butchering them would go... we'll figure something out.

 

[smallcitychick]

I don't know, those bottom 2 could be pullets. I had 3 leghorns once (1 rooster and 2 hens). ALL of them had huge combs. The chickens in the bottom two pictures don't have the red that top one does or nearly the size of the wattles either.

 

[4cheepers]

Quote:
Only the top guy has wattles, he's definitely a boy, no doubt. The other two just have orange... dents, I guess I'd say? I checked my other ones and my buff orp, definitely female, looks similar (but no comb like that.) I just lost 7 girls to a predator but my 7wk old Leghorn's comb was much smaller. So on those two, I just really don't know!

 

[silkiechicken]

At 3-4 weeks, girls should not even be pink at all or that fat of a comb. Leghorn females 16+ weeks really start to blossom into huge combs, but not this early.

Read into the meat bird section a bit to get an idea on what to do, to do the deed. It is not that hard really and on a 12-16 week old young bird, will be easy. One thing to note though, being in the city, all the leghorns I've raised tend to start crowing pretty early in life.

 

[4cheepers]

Quote:
Yeah, I figured that out looking at pics of my other Leghorn at 5 weeks. Her comb was almost nonexistent.

Thank you for the info!