Unbelievable....all PULLETS!! ***please read**

[greenfamilyfarms]

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Yes, this. I'm curious about their age as well.

 

[TinyTotsSeramas]

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Yes, this. I'm curious about their age as well.

in post 14 she says 4 months.

 

[Chicken Chat]

I wish I had your luck, the last hatch I had was all roos.

 

[poseygrace]

Please, please, please keep us updated on the week old chicks. If it turns out she only makes hens, you are truly sitting on a genetic gold mine. You need to get a camera set up (or a trap nest) and figure out who is laying the different eggs!

 

[Redcatcher]

I am skeptical for several reasons. Those heavy breeds are very slow growing and late in maturing. Four months is a little too soon to safely say that they are ALL pullets. The basic factor necessary for initiating development of the gonads in birds is the length of daylight. If they are in a darkened coop some of the time and are not getting enough daylight hours, or even if they are in a shady area, this will delay their sexual growth. The same thing happens to chicks that are hatched in late summer/early fall and no light is supplemented as the days grow shorter. They will not begin to sexually develop until the following spring.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

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Not to derail, but redcatcher, using the logic you just outlined, would that mean that if I raise my chicks in more light per day that the roos will develop a little faster to help me determine sex at a younger age?

 

[Minniechickmama]

NC29mom- Here is a way you can find out who is laying which egg....
Get yourself some food coloring. Use a different color for each hen (you will need to remember 1st grade when you learned which primaries mix to make which colors

) Put the food coloring on each hens vent, and have a way to identify which hen is which. If you don't have leg bands, something that works well is zip ties that you can get in different colors. Tighten only enough so it will not slip off and cut the excess back all the way to the locking end. They food coloring is harmless and it will leave a streak on the egg when it is laid so you can tell who is laying your golden girl eggs. You can use that name too, ha, I am a genius Golden Girl Buff Orpingtons - Lay pullet only eggs!

This sounds amazing! And I bet you thought BF was crazy?

 

[Redcatcher]

BigDaddy'sGurl :

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Not to derail, but redcatcher, using the logic you just outlined, would that mean that if I raise my chicks in more light per day that the roos will develop a little faster to help me determine sex at a younger age?

That is only if they are not getting enough daylight. It will delay their sexual growth but more daylight will not make them mature faster if they are getting an adequate amount to start with.​

 

[onthespot]

I second that. My bantam BLRW roo was over a year old, and not breeding hens, comb still pinkish and small. Not crowing. He was in a less well lit pen. moved him to a better pen and a month later his comb was red and he was breeding hens. I'm crossing fingers for one egg in hatchdown as we speak.

If it hatches, it will be his first since we moved the flock.

 

[NC29mom]

Alright guys.....give me 15min.....I've got pictures of about 50 of them...the older ones...uploading now...

and by the way....my fiance keeps his birds OUTSIDE all of the time...they have a roosting area at night, but it's outside also. He has about 1/4 of an acre fenced in for them. There are bushes in the middle of the area where they spend most of their time.........that's why I was only able to get some in the pictures tonight. Plus, the roo is really mean, and I'm scared to go into the pen.