8 Week Old Speckled Sussex - Pullet or Cockerel?

[Clueless Coop Keeper]

Hello,

I'm brand new to chicken keeping and would like some help determining the sex of my Speckled Sussex, Maeve. Her temperament is very calm and sweet. She likes to be held and will sit in my lap and fall asleep. She's also the smallest of the flock which includes an Easter Egger and two Buff Orpingtons of the same age. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Feather queen]

Sorry, your sweet little Maeve looks like a cockeral

 

[Tonyroo]

Are you positive on the age of this bird? Sussex start laying around at 20 weeks old. So it may go either way.

 

[The Lazy Farm Girl]

Maeve looks like my SS hen at that age. My roo Yodu (goregous man in my profile pic) had already grown a large comb and wattles and was crowing at 4 weeks (below). Nebby, my hen, is really sweet and gentle. Yondu the roo is a jerk.

 

[Clueless Coop Keeper]

Are you positive on the age of this bird? Sussex start laying around at 20 weeks old. So it may go either way.

We picked her up when she was approximately 3-5 days old on 3/11. I'm really hoping that she'll end up being a pullet.

 

[Clueless Coop Keeper]

Maeve looks like my SS hen at that age. My roo Yodu (goregous man in my profile pic) had already grown a large comb and wattles and was crowing at 4 weeks. View attachment 3499293

Thanks for the pic! Based on pics i've been seeing online, it seems pretty difficult to tell with this breed- but maybe that's just how it is with chickens. Yodu is so gorgeous!

 

[The Lazy Farm Girl]

Pullet & cockerel at 8 weeks.

 

[Clueless Coop Keeper]

Pullet & cockerel at 8 weeks.

Thank you, Lazy Farm Girl! These picture are really helpful.

 

[The Lazy Farm Girl]

Thanks for the pic! Based on pics i've been seeing online, it seems pretty difficult to tell with this breed- but maybe that's just how it is with chickens. Yodu is so gorgeous!

Thanks. I read that a female SS chick will have chipmunk stripes from head down the back. A little boy will have a brown spot on his head and stripes on his back. No stripes on his neck. I was supposed to have two females, but when Yondu started crowing, I started researching and found that distinction between the two. Sure enough, one chick'd had stripes all the way down, the other had a cap.

 

[Clueless Coop Keeper]

Thanks. I read that a female SS chick will have chipmunk stripes from head down the back. A little boy will have a brown spot on his head and stripes on his back. No stripes on his neck. I was supposed to have two females, but when Yondu started crowing, I started researching and found that distinction between the two. Sure enough, one chick'd had stripes all the way down, the other had a cap.

Just looked up some adorable pictures of little Maeve as a young chick - it looks like the chipmunk stripe went from her head all the way down her back. So that's a great sign! Local laws prevent us from keeping roosters where we're located so I'm really hoping she's a pullet. Thank you so much for providing these pictures and so much info.