A little help? Is this a roo or pullet?

[ElfenLied89]

I think pullet, she's gorgeous too!

She is! I love her little side swept comb too.

 

[ElfenLied89]

At 17 weeks old, this is a pullet

Phew. I didn't need another rooster as Snape is enough and we take care of our neighbor's roo as well.

 

[ElfenLied89]

X3, I think she’s ready to lay soon

How soon is soon lol. I'm not gonna find an egg in the coop this week am I? She better wait until next weekend when I can build the nesting boxes!

 

[tlcmurphy]

How soon is soon lol. I'm not gonna find an egg in the coop this week am I? She better wait until next weekend when I can build the nesting boxes!

Hard to say, is she squatting for you when you put your hand over her back? She may wait until the days get a little longer. My first pullet laid at 20 weeks, and her sisters followed a few weeks after that, but it was in the Fall.

 

[2ndTink]

How soon is soon lol. I'm not gonna find an egg in the coop this week am I? She better wait until next weekend when I can build the nesting boxes!

My second coop caught me before I had nesting boxes ready, they got a heavy duty Chicken Nugget box from Costco, it worked perfectly it was one of those display boxes were you tear off a chunk of the box and you can see all the product inside.

Since they liked the box so well the next time I went to Costco I got them another one

 

[DLA]

I don’t think that’s a cockerel. At 16 weeks there should be male specific feathering. I think your chick is a pullet that should start to lay soon

x2

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

That definitely isn't a cockerel. You can tell she is an obvious pullet because she has rounded feathers compared to how a cockerel will have pointed ones. She should start laying very soon with a comb and wattles that bright red. If she is squatting for you, then she will probably lay an egg sometime in this week or the next week.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

How soon is soon lol. I'm not gonna find an egg in the coop this week am I? She better wait until next weekend when I can build the nesting boxes!

Some birds will NEVER squat as that's a sign of submission not laying in particular.. in MY experience. It is funny when they do it for us though!

They usually red or pink up like that about 4 weeks before coming into lay (also according to MY experience). Many of my birds maturing this time of year with natural daylight start laying between 20-24 weeks. My earliest was 18 weeks.. with 16 weeks being my earliest spring maturing layer. How long has her comb been that bright?

Another *usually* VERY good clue.. is they often start getting vocal about that week lay is gonna commence.. griping a lot making a bawk awk awk type sound.. and increasing restlessness would also not be uncommon.

 

[ElfenLied89]

Hard to say, is she squatting for you when you put your hand over her back? She may wait unitil the days get a little longer. My first pullet laid at 20 weeks, and her sisters followed a few weeks after that, but it was in the Fall.

I haven't noticed. I will go check later today. Mostly they run if I am standing. I am a bald pink thing that is huge to her lol. Now I am going to go put my hand over my pullets just to see if they squat or not. I do know the older chicks and one or two of the hatchlings (who aren't babies anymore ) will sit at the "fence" and talk to Snape. He will sit over there almost all day unless he is foraging. He even lays by them and naps during the day. It's cute.

 

[ElfenLied89]

Does a brood lamp for heat count as "light" for chickens? They do have a heat source bc it's been low 30s lately here and they are spoiled rotten.

Hard to say, is she squatting for you when you put your hand over her back? She may wait until the days get a little longer. My first pullet laid at 20 weeks, and her sisters followed a few weeks after that, but it was in the Fall.