5 Month Blue Sumatras....All Cockerels

I was positive at least two of my blue Sumatra chicks that hatched at the end of August were pullets...everything about them said pullet, from their build to their complete lack of comb/wattle....but alas, over the past month they both have developed saddles. They are far behind in development from the ones I knew were cockerels, who have had the pointy feathers since they were 8 weeks old, but one even has good sized multiple spur buds, so I fear I am out of luck.

The good part of this is that I have a great variety of cockerels to choose from. I think I have made my pick for number one, but am still undecided on the second cockerel that I will keep. Here's some photos taken last week.

This is the largest cockerel, and he's also the first I chose to cull. He has slightly too much red and growth in his comb and wattles for me. Otherwise, he's pretty nice, with multiple spur buds on both legs.

This is a runner-up.  Nice bare, black face, multiple spur buds...feathering is ok at this point but not great.

This is my favorite cockerel right now. He has excellent feather development and his tail will come down to horizontal as it fills out. His face is very black and minimal.

These are my two "former pullets". They look like they are going to turn out to be nice cockerels, with good contrasting and lacing. I will probably keep one of these two, right now I am favoring the one in the background, strictly on feather quality. They have the same posture and size, although one has bigger legs and more evidence of multiple spurs than the other.

Longtail Chick Update

I will be phasing out the chick updates on the first batch as they move to the grow out pens. I will continue to update them about every 1-2 months, however, for the first year or until a decision is made to cull, at which point I'll do a final photo and reason for cull.

At this point, it is my thought that the Blue-Silver cockerel that we've been following will likely be a cull, but I will wait to see how the other blue silver cockerels turn out. The silvers came from a lesser quality hen than the blue-reds and blue-golds but it's all I really have as far as silver longtails, so I will still keep some of them for now.

I am also starting a new batch of chicks this week to follow, I chose 4 chicks out of the next batch of 15. At this point, I can't tell with certainty about whether I have cockerels or pullets in these, but I am fairly certain the two oldest are pullets.

So this week we have an update on BBRC1 - the BBR Phoenix cockerel, BRC1 - the blue-red cockerel by Howl out of a BBR Phoenix hen, and a blue-red hen that we HAVEN'T been following to show what some of the rest of the younger part of the batch looks like.  BSC1, BRH1, and BRH2 are all doing their first week in the grow out pen outside and they will be updated in another few weeks on a 1-2 month update schedule along with the others we've been normally following.

Here's Spike, BBRC1. I've noticed that I have a sister to him that is showing very comparable tail growth.  I like the green legs for breeding towards Onagadori standards, but in his case I do wish they'd have been slate, as I think he's going to be an awesome representation of a Phoenix...except for that leg color.

BRC1 - And he's still my favorite cockerel personality-wise. He's very docile, and already does a bizarre chick-trill-crowing song in the mornings and evenings when they are fed. He seems to have extra tailfeathers coming in and has new ones that are very very slim like Howl.

This is sister to BRH2, they are very similar.  Football, BRH1, is still shaped like a football, unlike the rest which are becoming longer.

This new batch of chicks are MOSTLY all out of the two new hens from Amanda - all 4 of the ones I am following are. At least 2 of these 4 are by one of Amanda's roosters, not Howl, as they are from eggs the hens laid immediately upon arrival here. I believe this will be a blue-silver pullet. Hatched late December.

Isn't he/she ugly right now? I have no idea what this chick is, the dad was a recessive white non molter over black or silver birchen, and the hen is the blue-red hen pictured on this blog. I'm leaning towards this chick turning out a dark birchen, but we'll see. I do hope it is a pullet.

I believe this is a red blue-splash, but I do not know the gender yet. Hoping for a cockerel here. It is by Howl, out of the blue-red hen.

I think this will be a blue-silver pullet.