If a bird is barred it will show when they feather out. It doesn't come in later.
Now you have me all nervous again for mine secretly being boys
I would think if they were going to be barred they would already have been barred. The cuckoos we ordered with the Sg are already barred and they are almost 6 weeks.
Hmmm...that's what I thought too. They had some variation in color in their feathers when they first started feathering out but you can see how they turned out LOL My BCM was black with a little copper on chest when he first feathered out....made me wonder if he was in fact a 'he'. Until he started mounting and fertilizing hens at 9 weeks... LOL Went against everything I'd read and been told. Didn't get his adult colors until months later. Same with chicks we hatched. All whiteish at this stage...but months later, ended up with a Columbian patterned roo and a red laced hen. Never saw that coming. So in my limited experience, what I see at 7 weeks is not always what I'll end up with LOL
Wow, those two certainly stand out. I hope you'll update when they get their rooster feathers because that certainly isn't what I'd expect to see for sexlinks.
You can always try the gold ring on a string testI hear it's quite accurate. I tried it last year and was dismayed to find we had more roos than pullets...figured it was ridiculous and hardly a true test...but alas, it was right. Tried it with my current hatch and it seems to coincide with the ones I'd guess to be pullets by wing carriage, the way they stand, act, and the apparent (or not yet showing) tail feathers. So give it a try. If nothing else, it's a fun little test to distract you until you can tell for sure
Not sure...they look a little bit different than mine did....can't put my finger on it...but camera phones don't make it easy! They're definitely similar but there are other blue breeds. My friend got blue Australorps and they look very much like my chicks...so someone more familiar with all breeds will need to weigh in. Where did you get them?
Yes some things are there from the start and others can take some time.
HAHAHA Well wouldn't that be typical of my life! Everything that happens to me is always weird and so out there that people don't believe me until they see it! It wouldn't be my life if it didn't turn something upside down LOL I have been watching their heads and necks closely for darker feathers...so hard I worry I might burn a hole into their poor skulls hahaha But so far, nothing. I agree with you that were someone else to post a pic of them elsewhere, based on the barring that should be evident, I'd suspect they were pullets with larger combs. But from the onset, they carried their wings higher, didn't get their tail feathers as quickly, held their tails more erect when they did....and just behaved differently. I've come to accept they were my packing peanuts and as a result, roos, but is there a chance they aren't SGs? They were identical to my girls in everything but color...just a lighter grey. In my current barnyard mix we hatched, I can tell who the father is by the shape of the head, eyes, coloration, etc. So I would think if they were a different breed, I would have noticed differences such as that. But even today, with the larger wattles/comb and the way they carry themselves and such, they scream roo. My husband wants to send them to freezer camp by 11 weeks but I don't think they'll be large enough then. And my established roos have gone after the kids a few times and more recently, me. It was a pathetically half-hearted attempt to flog me on both their parts and was the day after we removed 6 hens to dispatch. So I'm extending a little grace under the circumstances. But if they continue to go after my small children, I might have to replace them. Would prefer more purebreds as they are so I know what they contribute but if one of these boys turns out to have the right temperament and such, maybe I'll keep one on. That'll give me time to see the pointy hackles and saddle feathers come in. I can't remember when that started with my current boys. When do they usually start to emerge?
I didn't know this part.
