Poorly chicken

[stepnout]

Just picked up 6 chicks Friday,  4 are 8 weeks 2 are 6 weeks old. Just a barnyard mix ( mutts). My granddaughter and I love them already. The breeder will take the roosters back, city won’t allow roosters. I am a first time chicken owner and could use some help. Are some of these Roosters?

thanks in advance

 

[The Dogmother]

OK, so the scruffy black and white one looks like it might be a cock bird. Hard to tell without watching their behaviour though. They also look to be older than 6-8 weeks to me.

[GrannyTrish]

I don't know which are which but congratulations on getting your chickens!

[Cat tails]

My guess would be that the big upright standing scruffy black and white is a rooster. Looking closely at the brown columbine,it does have quite pointy neck feathers and the start of sweeping feathers around the tail. But with these pictures it could be anyone’s guess.

Like DM says, they look a bit older.

[Valkyrie]

I'm with everyone else on the rooster.  He definitely looks much older, but his back end near the tail have very pointy feathers.  Hard to tell up the neck end.  Jiu Jiu we couldn't tell until the beautiful curly green tail feathers appeared.  His neck and Squirts neck feathers were pretty much the same - so he was a girl until he crowed.  The others look very girlie to me.  I rather like the scruffy dude!

[The Dogmother]

I have one cream legbar x bantam, who may or may not be a hen... I think it's a she, but remain unconvinced

[Lewis]

Yeah the scruffy white one in the second photo is definitely a boy.

Have a look at their hackle (neck) feathers, the girls are usually rounded and boys are pointy.

[stepnout]

Al six birds are doing this type of behavior. This is the first day in the pen together. Could this be a combination of rooster and pecking order activity. It seems to me only one of these birds have rounded tail feathers. the other five have pointed tail feathers. Oh my  

 

 

 

[Cat tails]

The tail feathers can be pointy I think, it’s the neck and saddle feathers that give most away. Found this picture online:

 

[Valkyrie]

Difficult to say, but Squirt is a feisty madam so if it's a girl she might want to lord it over the boy - I know Apache used to put Jiu Jiu in his place, but she was the matriarch at that time.  The feathers looked more rounded with the back end of the brown one - like your little black one in the feeder photo.  Headgear? Hard to tell - Squirt and Tipsy both had impressive combs the first couple of years.

[stepnout]

Thanks for the great comments! This is a great learning experience. A long way to go for this 61 year old lol. For the past year I have been getting a 15% discount on BooBoo the black Labrador’s food. Yea for the senior discounts.

[The Dogmother]

Nice dog!

Look out for changes in behaviour and feather shape, some birds can be late to show though.

I can't see the size of your run, but make sure that you have enough space or they will fight and get on each other's nerves. You need an absolute minimum of at least 1 metre (yard) square per bird.

 

[stepnout]

I have almost completed an 8 got by 10 foot A frame extension. 4 foot will have a roof, roosting bars etc. It will have wheels. And I will move it along with the cube. My cube Is 3 meter. The cube run will hook to the A frame. I’ll post pictures in a week or so. I have a big property for coop movement, 

thanks 

[Lewis]

Love that photo, nice dog!

I would guess the first two fighting in the video are cocks and the black one too. The white Sussex type looks to be a pullet so far but only time will tell!
Good job you can take the boys back, maybe see if you can get a few pullets of a similar age when you do.

The run extension sounds great, looking forward to the photos  

[Grandmashazzie]

Hi stepnout lovely ‘hens’ hope not too many are boys. Where do you get the senior discount on dog food? I have 3 hungry hounds, one is also a black lab.

[The Dogmother]

I think he is in the US Shazzie,  so possibly not applicable here

[stepnout]

Hello Shazzie I live in Eastern Canada. I purchase my dog food at Global Pet foods. 

DogMother you were close, I live 60 miles from the US boarder. My T shirt may have thrown you off. The Oil refinery I work at has offices and petrol stations in Canada and the United States. The T shirt was commissioned in support of the victims and families of the 9/11 attacks in Nwe York. 

The shirt say “God Bless America, Canada Cares” something like that.”

Cheers

[Grandmashazzie]

Aw too bad,my sister lives in Canada, Bracebridge,Muskoka.We have been there and States many times. They are definitely much better with senior discounts than here.