White Leghorn: Pullet or Cockerel?

[Peep's Family]

This is our 12 1/2 week old white leghorn, Peep. This week she sprouted long tail feathers, and we're worried she's not a she. Our neighbors are amused by our chickens, but we fear if Peep starts crowing then it's off to the farm for her. Can anyone hazard a guess?

 

[silkiechicken]

I can tell you 100% that is not a white leghorn... way tooo big. Looks like a cornish x rooster to me. A type of meat bird. About 2-3 months old. A male. How old are they?


Here is an adult white leghorn. Note the slender body. As an adult they are about 3 lbs. My guess is your bird is in the 5 lb range if not more.:

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

i'm sorry to say that, that might be a rooster but I am hoping i am wrong

 

[silkiechicken]

And welcome to the board!

 

[Peep's Family]

Uh oh. We were guessing on the breed, so I suppose we're on the right forum. Peep is HUGE, but I just thought we were feeding starter too long. So rooster, huh? Bummer. Peep was our first, and we've grown attached.

 

[Confusedfarmer]

That is for sure a rooster and its a Cornish x im 500% sure about that because i have 10 just like him.

 

[silkiechicken]

Yeah... he's a meat bird... and often don't live long lives because they are prone to heart problems and just dying. Looks like he has been getting great care though because he's alive and still white!

 

[Peep's Family]

Okay, y'all, I just consulted Storey's Illustrated Guide To Poultry Breeds and well, y'all's right. So my wife wants to know: if make him a capon, will he still wake up the neighbors? We live on about 0.6 acres.

 

[silkiechicken]

Chances are he may still learn to crow but he may just act like a depressed rooster. Captioning was done to make them fatter and heavier, something you don't want to do with your peep as he is already predispositioned for a heavy body. Captioning is a risky procedure as you are cutting a hole between the ribs on both sides on their back and taking out something that is hopefully small enough to still fit though the incision. Many people don't do it now a days due to the risk and the basic non need to do it with the invent of meat birds like you have there...

How old is he again if I missed it? I normally butcher mine at about 8 weeks as the number of leg and heart problems steeply rises after about that time.

There are a few members though that have kept broilers as longer term pets and they may have good tips on how to keep peep healthy into his adult age. I have never had one crow on me because I take them to the table before that point. You can search for "rescued boilers" or "broilers" and find some of those threads if you are interested.

 

[Peep's Family]

He is already 12 1/2 weeks old, and it's funny, because every time I look at him I can just imagine him turned upside down in a broiling rack. He just looks like a bird you should eat. We were confused by his thick legs, fearing he had osteopetrosis, and he has a graceless, waddling gait.

So you're saying he may not live long enough to crow anyway? I would find someone to butcher and dress him if I thought any of us had the heart to eat him, but he was my daughter's classroom project, and I don't think it would make for a very happy dinner. At least we have three barred rock hens (we think) in there to keep him company and eventually to lay.