2009 Omlet cube and run for sale

[Duncan08]

 

This is a picture of two of my new Pekin Chicks.

 

I have a very strong suspicion that the lovely little bird on the left is a little boy instead of a little girl.

 

 

"she" was supposed to be 8 weeks old 12 days ago, but she was much smaller than two of the others and i think "she" was at least a couple of weeks younger.

 

I live on a housing estate, but the opposite side of the road backs onto open fiellds so its semi rural. Would love to keep him/her, but not sure if I would get away with it. Crows during the day would likely be fine, crows at 4.00am would be a problem. If I could black out the coop (I could line it) has anyone else had success in keeping boys in suburban settings??? Any tips???

 

So tempted to give it a go.

My Aunt lives in the countryside so if I can agree to her taking him if he does become a problem what do you all think?

 

Or should I just take him back to the breeder for a swap and stay safe.

[Egluntyne]

I'd take it back. Your intention was to buy a female, and whilst breeders can make mistakes, they should also rectify them.

[Redwing]

Tricky. If it was male even at 6 weeks I would expect to see more comb but if it was female I'd expect less!

 

I have a 7 week old at the moment that is oddly the same colour as your Pekin with a similar comb, its in with the 'keepers' on merit of 'benefit of the doubt' at the moment. I've never had a Pekin so unclear to sex

 

If its younger than 6 weeks (which it doesnt appear to be) then yes I guess its probably a male

[Duncan08]

Thank you, I will hang fire for a little while then and see what happens.

 

Wouldn't have taken him back yet as they are all being treated with coxoid and would need to wait until the treatment is finished.

 

I reckon he/she will be about 7 weeks or so too, perhaps it is a characteristic of this colour of Pekin if yours is the same.

[Redwing]

You get that with Wyandottes, I can sex the barred ones as soon as they hatch, gold laced, blue laced and columbian within a few weeks but silver laced have me scratching my head til they are past 10 weeks!

[coco]

I hatched two millefleur pekins last year, one was definately a boy but the other one I couldn't decide for weeks, it had wattles and a comb from an early age. i was convinced I had two boys until a breeder had a look at them at 10 weeks and said I had one of each. As I couldn't keep a cockerel I sold them both as brother and sister. I now have a cockerel anyway, I bought two barbu d uccles thast were supposed to be hens but one turned out to be a he. he has been crowing since last september and so far no one ( apart from my neighbour who complains about everything) has said anything. I make sure he is shut in at night and the earliest I have heard him so far is about 6.30 and he has never woken me up. Fingers crossed it stays this way, we have neighbours on three sides.

[Egghead68]

I once lived with 3 cockerels on a housing estate in central London. We put them to sleep in the garage at night and didn't get any complaints.

[Chortle Chook]

I'd give the wee one the benefit of the doubt both in terms of whether or not it is a he or a she, and then if it turns out to be a he, in terms of whether or not he would be loud and noisy and even then in terms of whether your neighbours object. Having a cockerel is just so nice - they bring a whole new dynamic to a flock and can be real characters. Also many people who live in built up areas near fields quite like the notion of being rural and are actually pleased to have a 'rustic sound' near them.

 

I was initially very worried about my little fellow and deliberately sleep with my window open to check how loud he is, how frequent and how early. It did not take me long to get used to him and in the two years I have had him I've had no objections. Long may that last If I do get an objection he'll just have to go into a cat carrier in my bathroom each night.

[Chicken shack]

I have a boy and although I have a large garden he is quite near to my neighbours. I shut him in the at night and let them out after 7am, He does crow earlier than that but I just hope he is a little muffled. One good thing about the bad weather is that windows are closed. There is always a silver linning.

[Chicken addict]

I have a cockerel in the middle of a town, although I have quite a big garden and no neighbours right up next to the hen house. We find the hen house muffles the sound of crowing in the very early hours, no complaints so far! In fact, only positive comments, you could always try keeping him and if he is too noisy rehome him.