Welsummer--Half Pullet/Half Roo clues

[rachelrenee1]

Ruby is only 4 ish weeks (give or take a few days) and she's got me all confused. She's a hatchery-quality chick, so that blurs things, I know. Reading up, I worried from the start, because her "eyeliner" was pretty faint, but her head triangle was dark. She has skinny legs, but she has a bigger comb than I would expect for 4 weeks and tiny little wattles too now. But she walks about hunched over and even the silkies seem ahead of her in the pecking order. Her tail is long and fast growing, no curving feathers. Her chest is coming in brown, but before the feathers fully unfurl they seem a little black. But overall her coloring is the more female drab colors, not the flashy male coloring. She's feathering out pretty quickly, but honestly, the clues seem half and half. I assume it will be a waiting game, but any old hand Welsummer owners care to wager on her gender?



(She likes to give me a weary look when I take her picture.)

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Looks like a pullet but it's early yet to be sure. It looks cold, or unwell as opposed to weary.

 

[rachelrenee1]

She was a little chilly since I took her out into clean light to get a true shot of her colors and it was 56 degrees, but I put her back under the heat lamp after I took the picture.

 

[donrae]

I'm undecided on gender, but I also think that chick ain't right. You said she walks hunched over, and no 4 week old chick should look like that just cause they're at 50 degrees for a little bit. A 4 week old chick raised by momma hen would be out at that temp for several hours a day and doing just fine.

Comb looks like a cockerel, coloring favors pullet. Either way, I wouldn't pin hopes on a healthy bird at this point.

 

[drumstick diva]

Poor chick, is sick and she needs to be diagnosed and treated. Concerns about gender are moot if she passes away.

 

[rachelrenee1]

She eats and drinks well, her stool is textbook. She has the energy to jump from the brooder and run around the room. She does seem more intolerant of too hot (first to pant and hold wings away) or cold. We've had chickens for years and I would not have pegged her as ill based on her behavior and appearance in the aggregate.