Gut Instinct About Orpington “Female” Chick

[ihopeyoureapullet]

I’m posting this thread to show how my gut instinct about one of my “pullet” Lavender Orpington chicks turning out to be male was correct, despite everything else online saying that it’s too early to tell. I know I still have a sample size of 1! I know. But I wanted to document some of the traits and behaviors we saw from as early as 3 weeks that seemed very male—especially in comparison to two hatch mates who were much more similar to each other.

These are in chronological order.

1. At 2-3 weeks old, he had bigger feet, more developed wing tips than the other two.
2. 2-3 weeks, he was much bolder, the first to investigate, but not the first to cuddle.
3. 3-4 weeks, his feet and wings were definitely growing faster than the others. He started stretching his neck up more while walking, and seemed to be the first to investigate, but the last to join for cuddling social time.
4. 3-5 weeks, his behavior became markedly more patrol like. He was the first to jump on the brooder, the first to use his wings, the first to get to higher ground. He would stand on the brooder and just watch us as the others relaxed on the bedding.
5. 4-5 weeks, his calls became increasingly more distinct, like he was sounding alarms for the other chicks. He almost always made the first alarm/distress type sound before the others chimed in.
6. 4-5 weeks, his comb began growing in MUCH faster than the other two. All the while, his feet are increasingly bigger, thicker, and his wings are more developed.
7. 5-6 weeks, his comb is much more developed than the others, his waddle is turning pink, and all his more male behaviors of standing back to watch while the others interact first, sticking his neck straight up, making the first alarm calls, all solidified.

Through the pictures, I want to show his body language, his comb, and finally, the week before we had to give him away, the clear difference between him and a pullet chick who’s otherwise around the same size as him. The pullets were always more cuddly/roosty, while he would stay standing on patrol.

The final pictures show the side by side of him and a female chick, same age, same hatch date.

I hope this is useful for someone with similar concerns! Ultimately, because we only had the few chicks, we splurged for DNA testing, which confirmed our early hunches to our dismay

He’s in a very nice farm now with a whole hen flock to himself. But our lesson is if it walks like a rooster, squawks like a rooster, and looks increasingly like a rooster, it’s probably a rooster lol. Just my two cents!

 

[thecatumbrella]

Nice write up, and I love that you included photos! I had a pullet that took on the rooster role and performed steps 1-5 (bigger than the others, bigger feet, patrolling, etc.), but the comb is always the smoking gun. It's abundantly clear in your later photos.

Who did you use for DNA testing and how did the sample collection go? I have a kit on my counter, but I'm so afraid to hurt "her" with the toenail clipping.

 

[ihopeyoureapullet]

Nice write up, and I love that you included photos! I had a pullet that took on the rooster role and performed steps 1-5 (bigger than the others, bigger feet, patrolling, etc.), but the comb is always the smoking gun. It's abundantly clear in your later photos.

Who did you use for DNA testing and how did the sample collection go? I have a kit on my counter, but I'm so afraid to hurt "her" with the toenail clipping.

Yes we were holding out hope basically until the comb sprouted out :’) That combined with the other signs finalized the signal.

We live in NorCal, and used a place called “Bird Sexing Solutions.” They’re slightly more expensive than the other places ($20 vs $15), but they’re located super close to us, so the time convenience was worth it.

We didn’t do the toenail clipping either because we didn’t want to hurt him like that! We did feather sexing. Got gloves on, held him tight and turned slightly on his back, then quickly plucked some of the larger more developed feathers and put them right into a ziplock bag. We plucked near the vent, which is supposed to be “better” for sexing according to some places? But this testing center said the feather location didn’t matter—they just needed feathers with the root part still intact.

He definitely didn’t like it, but I thought it was faster and simpler for someone who’s never done any kind of dna sample gathering before than trying to clip past the quick and get blood.

Good luck with your “pullet”!!

 

[thecatumbrella]

We plucked near the vent, which is supposed to be “better” for sexing according to some places?

The poor guy got a Brazilian!
I had no idea you could even do it that way. Thanks for sharing. I might just wait this chick out. The comb has to pop someday!