what age do hackles and saddles start showing??

[evonne]

hey guys...

i have 6 EE/leghorns that hatched 2 days before haloween, so they are like 9 weeks old i think??
3 of them had combs that were bigger and getting a little red at 3 weeks... i assumed these were going to be roos...
but now i'm second guessing myself... and wondering if they just got more of mom's (leghorn) genes than the other 3....
the combs haven't gotten any bigger, or redder... and i thought on their dad i could see the curved tail feathers and teh saddles comig in already...
it doesn't help that these are mostly white birds so there's no contrast to see if the feathers are coming in pointy...

would the hackles and saddles be easily identified on a roo at 9 weeks??

 

[SunnyDawn]

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EEs are notorious for being slow to mature. They get that from the ameraucana side. It could be a while before you can tell for sure.

 

[evonne]

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wrong answer.. you're fired....

lol...

you're sposed to say you'd see them already.. those are all gonna be hens...

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
wrong answer.. you're fired....

lol...

you're sposed to say you'd see them already.. those are all gonna be hens...

Sorry. Of course you are right! What was I thinking?

 

[mstricer]

I have jersey/orp mixes and they are 12 weeks and they just got their hackels at about 10 wks

 

[math ace]

Does it vary with the breed of chicken?

Is it typically 10 - 12 weeks for developement of the hackle and saddle feathers?

 

[SunnyDawn]

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Most definitely! See Hendersons breed chart for a reference list of breeds including early maturing birds. http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
Also has links to more info on the breeds listed.

 

[speckledhen]

Hackles in EEs and Ameraucanas usually have a pointy look to them, even in the hens. The saddle feathers seem to come around 9-11 weeks on the boys, in my experience. If you're not seeing them at that age, part the back feathers and look underneath. If you see skinny, shiny ones coming in, there you go.

 

[evonne]

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yeah, a few of my EE hens have very pointy hackles... almost as pointy as the roo, but not as skinny.. if htat makes any sende... that's why when people start pointing at hackles on them i point out saddles... these "guys" don't look to be getting the pointy saddles.... i had one fly up to my arm today so since he was sitting htere and letting me look i looked close, everything there seems very roundy....
but what i don't get is their combs got bigger faster, and are very similar to their dad's comb... but i'm wondering if they got redder faster due to mom's legorn genes.. her comb was redder before the EE girls and she's a week younger... i'm confuseded... lol.. guess we'll just wait and see... but i'm shipping the 3 that i know are girls.. the pea combed ones.. which i'm hoping means green layers... to a friend in AZ who said he really liked that they were white and not skittish.. and being half leghorn they should be excellent layers....
now to see if the 3 that i keep here have to be sold off or if they will lay eggs.. lol...

maybe i'll see if i can get the camera out and get a decent pic... but like i said, it's hard because they're mostly white birds....

 

[SunnyDawn]

Good luck! Try taking pics at dusk it's a little easier to see them then.