What breed are these?

[MrsRatty]

Hi I have adopted these 3 off a neighbour as 4 week old chicks we had 2 brown and 1 black. The black one grew a comb quicker and wattles than the others but now at roughly 5 months old we have no idea why type of chicken they are and whether they are hens or roosters as ALL 3 sit and cock a doodle - help

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

You have three cockerels (young roosters). Do you have any hens? If not, the three may live happily together with little issue - but if there are hens involved you will need to have enough girls to "go around" to prevent overmating and try to limit the amount of competition (fighting) between males. Also, are you legally allowed to maintain crowing birds where you live? In many municipalities that allow poultry there are specific prohibitions against crowing birds (roosters).

 

[donrae]

You have three mixed breed cockerels.

 

[BantamLover21]

They're all mixed breeds.

 

[MrsRatty]

Oh dear, thank you everyone. It was a teacher that brought them home after the school hatched them for the young ones at Easter as they were going to be killed. We took them in, had them in the house for a while then bought coop etc and now they do fight a little and all 3 cock a doodle. No we are in a built area so not legal to keep them, have tried trading sites and local poultry farms and had the same answer

. They are tame and lovely as always handled by daughter.

 

[Michael OShay]

You have three mixed breed cockerels.

I agree.

 

[MrsRatty]

How can you tell they are roosters? Is Zach (black one) a leghorn?

 

[drumstick diva]

I agree with Michael

 

[Michael OShay]

How can you tell they are roosters? Is Zach (black one) a leghorn?

You can tell they are roosters by their long pointed hackle, saddle, and sickle feathers. Zach likely has some Leghorn in him, but he is a mixed breed (as are the other two).

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

You can tell they are roosters by their long pointed hackle, saddle, and sickle feathers. Zach likely has some Leghorn in him, but he is a mixed breed (as are the other two).

X 2 - and the fact that they are engaging in crowing contests. You will find all sorts of tales of "crowing hens", but a) they are not as common as the internet might lead you to believe and b)those that do occur are not young birds just reaching puberty (as your birds are) but are rather older, mature hens who tend to have hormonal imbalances.