Single hen

[Gallina]

My Blue Orpington "chick" is now nearly 17 weeks old, and I still don't know if she is a boy:

 

 

Below is a second picture of my big baby, next to my full-grown Pepperpot to give you an idea of relative size. (Note that the tail in behind belongs to the Brahma that I know is a cockerel: my Blue Orpington has no tail.)

 

 

Surely it must be possible to sex a chicken of this age. But I change my mind every day.

 

Last time I asked there was a reassuring but small group who thought she was a girl. Does anyone still think she is a girl, or should I lose all hope?

[jools+6]

"she" looks gorge i think but don't sue me !!! i have enough trouble with my lot !!!

[Egg Lou]

Sorry no idea really except she looks like a bigger version on my blue pekin female chick so I'd say a girl!

[The Brown Clan]

Wow !!! what a beauty, I think she is a girl

[BeckyBoo]

See for 17 weeks my boys had much bigger combs etc so in that sense I'd say a girl, but then the hackle feathers look pointy, hmmmm, not much help am I? I think I'd say girl. How did you sex your Brahma? I have one and I still can't tell

 

Mrs B

[Barkisland]

No idea of the gender, but just want to say WOW, what a fine looking bird he/she is! I would love one like that. Are you hoping it's a girl?

[Gallina]

If my Blue Orpington is a girl, she's a big one: she must weigh nine pounds already.... I do hope she is.

 

Re Brahmas: I have dark Brahmas, and the markings on the male and female are so different you wouldn't guess that they were the same breed. See the pictures on this page: the male is in the top picture, the female in the second one:

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/chickens/brahma/dark.htm

My pair look just like that, and it would have been possible to sex them as soon as they got their first proper feathers.

[keyhole kate]

She looks like a girl to me but I am no expert

fingers crossed for you

[The Dogmother]

Hmm, the feathers on the cushion look rounded in the photo, but then the tail feathers seem to be curling a bit...... boy?

 

(sorry Gallina)

 

Try posting a photo in the pekinbantams forum Gallina; I've always found them very helpful (and accurate) with sexing of any breed.

 

She/he is gorgeous!

[Egluntyne]

Hmmmm...the hackle feathers look as if they might be a bit pointy, and the legs are very sturdy.

 

The wattles and comb are much more developed and redder than my 16/17 week Fenton Blues.

 

I'm inclining towards boy but would be delighted to be wrong.

[Pinkybijou]

First of all, what a gorgeous chook!

 

I don't have a lot of chook experience, but we hatched our Banjo 16 weeks ago and he has hardly any comb yet and only just the beginnings of pink wattles, so for that reason I would be inclined to think your beautiful chook might be a boy. I don't know if purebreeds are different to bog standard inbreeds regarding comb development etc though (our Banjo is a mix of a Speckeldy and a white cockerel).

 

I hope you are able to keep your chook even if it does turn out to be a boy, too gorgeous not to!

 

Kris

[GreenGirl]

Hi, I have a blue orpington girlie, now 21 weeks and she doesn't have anywhere near as much facial development, and her legs are a bit more slender and the feathers round her neck seem a bit more rounded...

 

Although all of mine seem to be late developers!

[tenzin]

I'd lean towards a boy as the young one has a little tail carriage and is big for a buff .

Although the comb isn't that big , so may be a girl ..

 

Time will tell

Have you noticed any dominance from the wee one towards your other birds of the same age ?

[Gallina]

I love hearing from people who think my Blue Orpington is a girl, but I think I know in my heart that she is a boy. I will keep her until she crows, as I never give up hope.

 

She does have hackles, but she has no tail. She is also very gentle, and absolutely terrified by hybrid girls a third of her size. And she doesn't strut like my other cockerel -- but Orpingtons aren't really built for strutting.

 

If she is quiet enough, I will keep her. But I gather that quiet cockerels are as rare as hens' teeth....

[tenzin]

 

They simply don't exist " Gallina

 

To be honest I'd say its a boy 95% sure , like you said Buffs are placid and calm .

Beautiful conditioned bird anyway .

Hope you can keep him if its a he . I have a Bramha - Aracana cross cockerel and keep him locked up till 9am each morning , not had a problem with neighbours as yet and he sings just after 9am

Lovely having one to keep the ladies company

[mrs chook]

Gorgeous, hopefully girl .

 

Reminds me of my speckledy a bit in size and looking sturdy, who I got at 14 weeks as a she, worried could be a he - she's very 'well built' but does lay now so is a girly.

 

Fingers crossed, hope you can keep him/her anyway, such a beauty.

[BeckyBoo]

This post made me go back out and have another proper look at our Brahma, Scruff, and sad to say he is definitely a boy too. Oh well, we'll keep him til he cock-a-doodle-doos then he'll either have to find a new home or it's curtains for him Luckily we've got the breeder nearby, and two farms nearby - you know the sort you can visit, and they both have hens so you never know, if not I'll advertise him at the feed places I go to.

 

Mrs B

[Gallina]

You tell yourself that you will harden your heart to boys, but they are so cute. I love the way my Brahma boy struts around until my tiny Amber Star hen comes near him, then he scuttles in panic. He is so obviously a boy: he stands so very tall, and is growing a tail already. Unfortunately, however, he is lame and cannot stand up for very long: he is the one who was persecuted as a baby and for whom you kindly sent the purple spray.

 

I am tempted to keep one boy if I can get away with it.

 

My chicks are 17 weeks old today, and as I have just run out of growers' pellets and also the boys (or boy -- I haven't quite given up hope yet) are getting too tall for the Eglu, I integrated them into one of my Cube runs this afternoon. So far there has been no trouble at all. The young ones have been mixing out on the grass with the older hens for a long time, and probably being so big helps.

[Daphne]

How intriguing! I can't tell either but your bird's comb is bigger than our blue girl orp's was when she was fully grown. However, its not bigger than our black girls. Do you know the parentage of your youngster? If it was black x blue then that could explain her size and development. Or am I grasping at straws??

[KAZAROO]

I personally would have said a hen- but maybe you should have a bet on to raise funds for BHWT- which is what I did before my son was born....

 

 

She is gorgeous and I only have experience of Buffs....

 

Good Luck xxx

[Daphne]

I've just seen a pic of a Best in Show blue female orp and her comb/wattles are just like yours (well not yours personally, but you know what I mean!). I can't tell about the legs and feather development tho I'm afraid.

[Dinkychick]

Fingers crossed its what you want it to be

 

Tail fethers look like my cockerels where they droop, but its legs look like my hybred hen

[Topdollar]

I hope you get to keep him or her too.

 

I'm a newbe chicken keeper myself and 5 weeks ago got 3 more hybrid ladies to add to the flock. Hannah, another gold star named after my niece who was a very fussy eater and hated eggs till she met my girls and now has an egg a day, Fay, another amber star and also named after another niece (not such a fussy eater) and Margot, a speckled star that stood out from all the other speckled POL hens that we saw so we picked her.

 

This may seem totally unrelated so I will cut to the chase - I came home from work yesterday and let the girls out of the run to free range as I usually do and found that Margot had decided to tread half my girls, grabbing their necks and doing what I've read boys do!!

 

I did have my suspicions but it looks like Margot is Gerry!!

 

What's strange is he hasn't crowed yet (he's 21 weeks old), his comb and face are now very red and there is no indication of spurs yet but the legs are huge indicating a lot more growth.

 

My neighbour is a chicken keeper and says she can see cockerel but even she is not sure.

 

To be honest it doesn't really matter as they are a great joy to me and I will keep you posted as and when we know for sure.

[Gallina]

My beautiful Blue Orpington crowed for the first time yesterday, at the age of over 26 weeks. He is huge.

 

He crows just after 8am, and not for very long at all, so I hope I may be able to keep him.

 

In my heart, I knew he was a boy right from the start. He was so very big, even when he was a chick. But he is so shy! He is terrified of all the hens, who bully him, even though he is about four times the size of the hybrids.

[The Dogmother]

Wait until his hormonal urges kick in Gallina, then he won't be scared of them... although I have known a cockerel who wasn't very successful with the laydees as he was scared witless of them they used to chase him off whenever he tried to have his wicked way with them.