Is my pekin bantam male or female?

[kittyl]

Thanks, you've given me hope!, my chicks are late developers & I think their combs were affected by

mum's scaly mite. Now they're all recovered I'm just praying those combs dont suddenly pop up!

OOh it would be fantastic if they were all girls!! The only delema would be deciding which 2 to keep

cos I love them all!

Next week I'll take more photos, but from the side.

[Redwing]

They dont look like pure Pekins to me, their combs arent Pekin combs and a couple arent very Pekin shaped

 

Based on the redness of the second one I'd say that was a boy

[CatsCube]

Yes Redwing makes a good point there they don't look very pekin like. The legs don't appear to be as feathered. Mine are only 3 weeks and have a great deal more feathering to the legs, and the combs like too wide. So I don't think you can sex them in the same way as you would pekins.

[Mollie333]

They look like wyandotte crosses.

[kittyl]

no, surely not!

I'm having a horrible thought - I bought 6 buff & white pekin hatching eggs, but -

2 have grown much bigger than the others & are white & black,

1 was a black bantam

now you're saying they dont look much like Pekin chicks - I hope I wasnt given

the wrong eggs!

These chicks do have large feathers at the top of their legs & definately have

light feathering right down legs & feet, whereas the black one has none.

I'll try & get some better pics of the most feathered one later.

[Mollie333]

Defiantly not pure pekins.

 

Can't think of a breed with that sort of Comb but with feathered feet..

 

I'd forward photos to the breeder asking what they are, maybe they have a mixed pen like me, i sometimes get wyandotte cross Pekins and Pekins cross Polish.

[kittyl]

Defiantly not pure pekins.

 

Can't think of a breed with that sort of Comb but with feathered feet..

 

I'd forward photos to the breeder asking what they are, maybe they have a mixed pen like me, i sometimes get wyandotte cross Pekins and Pekins cross Polish.

I think he probably does have a mixed pen! The thing is I bought what I thought were purebred Pekin

eggs,after much persuasion from my kids I only agread to do this if I could hatch something I thought

I could rehome easily, especially the cockerels, I hoped to keep a couple, had a friend lined up for some & the "breeder" said he'd take any boys back, as he & a friend could use them for breeding. I know how

soppy my son & I get over animals, so knowing we wouldnt have to cull the boys is the only reason I went

ahead with this. Now I find myself in an awful situation with, I think, 4/5 cockerels, probably all crossbreeds,

so no hope that I can home any of them, the breeder clearly talking rubbish - he'll just kill them. I've

allowed myself & the children to become so attached to them, I'm gutted.

[Mollie333]

Contact the breeder. I also have a wyandotte and polish bantam in with my breeding Pekins, it's easy to tell the difference between the eggs, so i save these for anyone wanting crosses and sell the rest of the pekin eggs separate.

 

Sorry about your boy problem Your right about the breeder, cross breed chicks aren't a favorite to be bred.Unless he has odd Pekin hens with a wyandotte comb (doubt it)

 

Can't you give two to your friend and keep two? Check on Preloved anyone with small holdings wanting chickens/chicks/cockerels.

 

x

[kittyl]

I've been looking at the eggs (yes daft as I am I kept the empty shells as a souvenir) some were smaller

and white, a couple are a bit larger & more tinted than Bibbles. He said smaller & lighter meant a

younger hen. Anyway there's no point in argueing with the breeder, the damage is done now, I wont

slander him in public but if anyone local wants to avoid him you may pm me for his name!

Now I've calmed down a bit, thinking logically, if my chicks are crossbreeds there's no guarantee

just because the combs & wattles are red at 6 weeks that they are def boys..is there? Even if

they're s"Ooops, word censored!"ping. With Wyandottes how soon would the cockerels show themselves?

[Green Tea]

Whatever they are they are very cute

 

My two are Pekins, 6 weeks, can't upload pictures at mo but can be seen here ....

 

 

I am hoping that even though the Millefleur's comb is pretty red it's still a girl due to the obvious difference in size of comb and wattles from the black one.

 

Yours are all still very pale compared to mine, so perhaps you have lots of girls

[kittyl]

Now I've got the hang of sizing the pics properly here's some more. They do look

a manky lot compared everyone elses beautiful chicks, still too many baldy, pink

bits! Having looked at Wyandottes I can see it in Smidge & Spot, not just the colour

but the look on their face - sort of severe

 

My dear little Pixi, who just loves a cuddle, he has such a sweet character, still

a bit battered from his fight with Smidge

Smidge, the bossy one. He's about double the size of Sugar & Spice

Spot, the hen I think, maybe the only one, shame she's not too friendly

Spot & Pip our little mystery bantam

little Spice, even the little ones have the odd black feather

and here they are in a bundle

[kittyl]

After all this time I've not been able to get any help from the breeder, I spoke to him briefly on

the phone, he insisted he didnt "do" crossbreeds, we were to arrange for him to look at the chicks

but he's not called back & surprise surprise..doesnt answer my calls! Toad!

So I'm on my own with this. The chicks are 7 weeks old now, I'm sure we have 1 girl, I think 4 are boys,

I'm not certain about Pip, the black one, although Pip always had the biggest comb its never got very

red, was very yellow at the beginning & is still sort of orange now. I think Pip may be a belgium bantam

probably a crossbreed too. Pip & Spot are the only ones I cant handle, they're so timid, is that more typical

of girls? The 4 "boys" have very red combs, wattles & red around their eyes, even though the combs arent

very big, does that mean they're definately boys or will I have to wait till they crow to know?

Mum in the meantime has gone broody again! She has got to be kidding!

[kittyl]

Just for the record, my white chicks have turned out to be pure bred Brahmas, & the black one

is probably a leghorn pullet. They've turned out to be smashing chicks & I've already got breeders

asking after them! So he was right...he didnt do crossbreeds!

[Green Tea]

They're lovely. Quite by coincidence I just found out about Brahmas today and have been looking up breeders ...... I'm quite jealous

[Mollie333]

Brahmas!! Of course!!

[CatsCube]

Ah brahmas, blimey a bit of a size difference to pekins! will you be keeping any after all this? One looks to be a columbian colouring which isn't to common in the UK and rather sought after.