- Mar 25, 2016
- 144
- 94
- 176
Hi There,
I have chicks that are almost 5 weeks old. They were purchased as sexed females. But, one has me guessing and I was looking for input.
My Buff Brahma is the one that keeps me guessing. First, the behavior... very male like. Lots of chest bumping. Rushes in on chicks that were being held and are returning to the brooder. I realize that females can do this, too. "She" has a red comb and wattle that started showing up around 2 1/2 weeks old. Just more pronounced now. My last group of chicks included two that had me guessing as to their sex. One was a st. run bantam who was the last chick to grow a tail. When his tail came in, it grew in fluffy layers where the other chicks all had a similar shaped tail with more defined borders. The undefined tail had me thinking rooster. Then, his comb outgrew his sister. and then it turned bright red. He was indeed a handsome little rooster. Sadly, a predator got him. By the way, the No Crow collar really worked. That and keeping him in a small crate at night kept him from crowing in the night and waking us up. At the same time, I had a Black Copper Marans chick who was sexed female. Her tail matched all my other sexed and suspected females (who all indeed turned out female). But, her one oddity was her comb and wattle. They were red early on. The one thing about Marans is that they tend to mature early and she did in fact lay her first egg at 20 weeks. So, maybe that red comb and wattle at a young age on a bird that matures early is just early maturation? I am totally guessing here.
This 4 1/2 week old Buff Brahma chick has some red already and it started about 2 weeks ago. This on a bird that is supposed to be slow to mature and with male behavior has me guessing male.
Anyone care to chime in? I promise to follow up with the actual end result once it is clear.
Here are some picture.
I have chicks that are almost 5 weeks old. They were purchased as sexed females. But, one has me guessing and I was looking for input.
My Buff Brahma is the one that keeps me guessing. First, the behavior... very male like. Lots of chest bumping. Rushes in on chicks that were being held and are returning to the brooder. I realize that females can do this, too. "She" has a red comb and wattle that started showing up around 2 1/2 weeks old. Just more pronounced now. My last group of chicks included two that had me guessing as to their sex. One was a st. run bantam who was the last chick to grow a tail. When his tail came in, it grew in fluffy layers where the other chicks all had a similar shaped tail with more defined borders. The undefined tail had me thinking rooster. Then, his comb outgrew his sister. and then it turned bright red. He was indeed a handsome little rooster. Sadly, a predator got him. By the way, the No Crow collar really worked. That and keeping him in a small crate at night kept him from crowing in the night and waking us up. At the same time, I had a Black Copper Marans chick who was sexed female. Her tail matched all my other sexed and suspected females (who all indeed turned out female). But, her one oddity was her comb and wattle. They were red early on. The one thing about Marans is that they tend to mature early and she did in fact lay her first egg at 20 weeks. So, maybe that red comb and wattle at a young age on a bird that matures early is just early maturation? I am totally guessing here.
This 4 1/2 week old Buff Brahma chick has some red already and it started about 2 weeks ago. This on a bird that is supposed to be slow to mature and with male behavior has me guessing male.
Anyone care to chime in? I promise to follow up with the actual end result once it is clear.
Here are some picture.
