UPDATE: Please confirm AUDREY'S gender page 6 (9/21/11 post)

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
WHERE are the hackle feathers?? Is there a pic somewhere showing where they are?

I'll look at the saddle feathers tonight. I didn't notice any real difference there.

<sigh>

What I call hackle feathers are the ones that drape down around the base of the neck area - on most breeds they're pretty pointy and slender on males, wider and more rounded on females... But some birds (like EEs and others) will appear to have pointy hackle feathers due to coloration, but it you really look at them close-up, they're actually broad/rounded.

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

Quote:
When I saw the earlier pics I thought roo because those legs were very big. Also I've read here that Brahma(sp.) mature at a slower rate.

I didn't say anything because ppl with way more experience said it was a she.

Anyway ''she'' still looks to be roo to me.

 

[Raven1]

For what its worth I have breeding pens with only 2 or 3 hens with a Roo and very seldom is there too much "attention" for each hen. Also if you start losing back feathers you can get hen saddles for the girls.

 

[pawsplus]

Quote:
Honestly, I'm 100% sure that Clarice will not put up with ANY of that. Period. She is very alpha and is used to running the show. This actually explains her apparently violent reaction when I initially tried to introduce the new "girls" a few weeks ago. When I initially had them in separate but adjoining pens, I had noticed that Clarice was almost entirely ignoring Audrey but tracking Bianca and focusing on her/him/whatever. Then I put them in the coop at night and left the next morning for work--when I returned that evening the young ones had been forced into the second pen where there was no cover (it was raining) and they were huddled frozen and wet! It seemed an extreme reaction on Clarice's part but maybe she knew. Anyway, I can pretty much promise that she will NOT put up w/ any of this!

What are my options? I have a call in to my vet to see if he has experience w/ caponizing, etc.

So I could:

(1) Neuter/caponize Bianca (after I come up w/ a new name!);

(2) Try estrogen therapy. ??? Has anyone done that??

(3) Keep him separate in the new run and the 3 girls in the old run. They adjoin so he could see them but this just seems cruel.

(4) Risk it and see how it goes.

My concern w/ #4 is that I don't want anyone hurt or stressed out and by waiting too long I run the risk of his behavior becoming behavioral rather than 100% hormonal.

I guess I'll see what the vet says.

Is there a way my vet can tell 100% for sure?? I guess we could x-ray him/her and look for oviduct or testicles or whatever, right?

 

[Raven1]

OK first it is normal for your alpha hen to run the show with any newbees, but yes she knows if he is a he or a she. There is going to be some scuffling at first they do call it a pecking order for a reason LOL. I would let them stay in the adjoining pen for a good while so they can see and get use to each other. You will still have some "fighting""pecking" behaviour just to get everybody in line but you can take Clarice and put her in the other pen for a day or two by her self and that will lessen the transition as it will change her statis for a bit, but honestly they will all settle in at their own pace and all will be well I promise.

 

[pawsplus]

Quote:
And yet over and over here folks warn against having 1 roo to a small # of hens. I am not going to let my girls be constantly harassed. That's just not an option. Clarice is 8 years old--I'm not taking a risk w/ her.

I wish the vet would call me back!!

 

[Raven1]

Yes if your Clarice is 8 I don't think I would let her be stressed either. It is a shame that its so hard to tell sex sometimes, untill we get so attached to them. I hope your vet has a solution for you. Good Luck.

 

[whitecra]

Looks like a roo to me.
Chris

 

[Happy Chooks]

It's a cockerel - the red in the wing area is the give away. He has the scrawniest legs I've ever seen on a boy.

 

[pawsplus]

Quote:
?? His/her dad was a RIR--wouldn't either sex have red in them??