Nicci is SO different from the rest (they others are Ameracaunas and she is a Black Australorp), granted she is a different breed, but do you think she a he?
The reason is......
This message was edited May 28, 2009 7:20 PM
I need you! Chicken sex id?
I was given an 8 week old (?) Barred Rock Roo today...This is Fugazi with my DD
No.. I don't think she is a he.. she looks like a pullet to me! Why?
Edited to add.
Here is the only thing that I think points to Roo.
No tail.. bald spots on shoulders.. LOL
This is what points towards pullet..
wing shape
no red/pink in comb
no wattles
This message was edited May 28, 2009 4:31 PM
We crossed...
Darling pic! Your DD has a beautiful face and smile!
Because I don't know what the heck I'm doing!!! I don't want them to fight....:D Thanks!!!! I have their cages together now, and all mine are up against the door trying to get closer to him. He is making an odd, low, hinge moving type sound? The girls are just peeping. He's also about twice their size....
OH.. Okay.. they probably won't fight... but.. he is a pre teen and has hormones or will have REAL soon.. the girls are not anywhere near ready to lay.. he will probably still try to jump them, which terrorizes pullets that aren't ready.. it's nerve wracking to say the least..
ooo so that's what is wrong with my rooster... He's just a teenager.
So I should not put them together any time soon then? Boy he's a neat kid though....not shy in the least and loves -well tolerates- a lot of holding....
Who knows Jenks? You could always try it.. there is no hard and fast rule.. if it works, great.. if not.. well.. it will later.. :) He surely won't kill them.. especially if you supervise a first visit.
LOL Grey.. I honestly believe that testosterone kills brain cells.. LOL
Oooooo! I think Nicci is a roo. But I've been wrong on every one of my Black Australorps. On the other hand, it was generally because I thought roosters were pullets and not visa versa.
The tail does look awfully short and square--which is a common roo trait before the sickle feathers come in. And, as ZZ said, the bare shoulder epaulets tend to show up on roos as they feather out.
OMG....what is "bare shoulder epaulets"? Going to google it! Nicci has a bare spot above her shoulder on her neck....see it?
Looks pretty pullety to me, although I could be wrong. I have allowed roos to grow up around pullets and haven't had problems here, but they have a lot of free ranging space. I think that is part of the reason. The pullets run away and they usually can outrun (or out maneuver) the roos.
Perhaps I am giving undo weight to the square tail--the comb is not particularly rooish (Whisper--I could never tell by the combs on my Australorps until they were much older).
Gasp! What a confession!
Well, Moxon, I feeI can let my hair down here...and be less than perfect....
Although, sigh, it is an effort:0)
Yes, we must breathe deeply and know, in our hearts, that we too have the capacity to be imperfect. Embrace your imperfections (if you can find them). :-)
I have to confess also, I didn't know about the bare shoulder thing being a roo trait. I will have to be more observant with that in future.
Slow feathering tends to be a roo trait...but once you have had Barnevelder roos, which are an extreme example of it, you get very sensitive to it. Poor little boys wander around half naked.
On the other hand, ZZ's Shamos were the opposite. Her pullet was barer, on the wings and breast, than the roo.
I also think that it is line specific. That old university paper on sexing chickens said that some hatcheries had worked to develop "slow feathering" lines, where the pullets feathered out much earlier than the roos--a method that was widely used before vent sexing was discovered.
My, I believe I have a hair out of place...must go!
ZZsBabiez - I fully agree. :) i have 3 roos currently & they are all about Teenager stage... they have lost their minds. They don't fight with each other.. but they chase any guy i know.. no matter the age.. all over the yard. Its kinda amusing from my view point...
I need to pay better attention bc I'm having trouble telling who is a pullet & who is a roo out of my last bunch. and I need to google that bald spot thing... cause Idk what it is. I sure can't tell which comb is rooish & which isn't... and i have too many to post pictures of them to ask all of you.
A roo comb will generally turn pink/red early on.. A pullet's comb will stay yellowish.
The bare spots are not 100% I noticed that and it made me wonder a little.. I've had Modern Game pullets do that.. so I'm not sure...
Catscan, I think you sent me a link to that gender page once.. I learned most of this from you anyway!
I think that slow feathering thing is the best indicator.. (for me anyway) Not for Seramas that's for sure!
Well....he didn't hurt them, but after he pretty much pecked each one's head I'd had enough..... 10 minutes? Too stressful for me. Maybe he wasn't a good idea....