week old tail feathers

[shaynapalmer]

This probably sounds silly but my chicks are a week old, 2 of them have tail feathers and 3 don't..this doesn't mean they are roos does it? I'm just so nervous that one or worst case scenerio a few snuck in the flock.please ease my mind...

 

[Gonzo]

mornin'! I don't usually go by tail feathers.. I usually watch their combs.. I have a Ha, ha small herd and they just turned 2 weeks old.. Some have a more pronounced and brighter comb. The ones I hope to be females, don't have a comb too show for yet.. what breeds do you have?

 

[Gonzo]

also, Welcome! Enjoy the trip! this is a wonderful site! you'll learn sooo much.

 

[shaynapalmer]

I have 5 RIR and they are sooo friendly, except for the ones with the tail feathers..they are a bit skiddish i noticed but maybe it's me being paranoid...LOL I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to this site, i find myself coming on here a few times a day for info.

 

[knittychickadee]

Mine will be a week tomorrow, and I have both some roos and pullets getting sprouts, and some of both without any. Several different breeds.

 

[Gonzo]

rir makes it a little easier, The female rir will have a black stripe running down their head. I know about being addicted to this site! mornin' noon, & night! Even my 13 year old daughter lives here. It great, she's meet so many teens on here! I love it!

 

[shaynapalmer]

I just looked at them all and all but one has a stripe on the head, the one that doesn't has tail feathers.... uh oh. It does seem like this is a great site for all ages

 

[Lollipop]

My obsevations are not scientific by any means, so don`t panic. I have observed over the years that females sprout tailfeathers more quickly than males. Of course this may apply only to breeds that I have. Hope it goes well for ya..........Pop

 

[georgialee]

The majority of the time that seems to work but my amber sex-link (which is obviously a female) feathered really slowly as well as one of my cochin pullets (the other cochin pullets feathered quickly). My wyandottes are all feathering at the same time and I have both pullets and roos. Can you post some pics?

eta: I just saw where you posted that they're all RIR's. I would say the slow feathering ones are most likely roos.

 

[Young MacDonald]

In RIR, the pullets tend to develop their tail feathers faster than the cockerels. There are some great photos on this site showing the comparison.

With my chicks, I had two with short tail feathers and three with long at about 2 weeks. Now they are 6 weeks, the two that had the shorter tail feathers have larger combs than the rest.

One of them, however, now has long tail feathers like the other girls and a smaller comb. So I'm not sure about gender. The other short tail feather one still has shorter feathers and is for sure a boy.

Hope this helps.