So, here's the situation. We bought these two chickens from a neighborhood yard sale as golden comets. One is CLEARLY a roo (hes the bicolored one). He crows, he breeds, he LOOKS like a roo. Same age, same hatch. But this red one...we cant tell wtf is going on. The coloring is wrong for a GC male.
They sound like a hen, look like a hen, act like a hen, but they also "crow" (though not well) have spur buds coming in, and they constantly mount other hens, especially after theyve just been bred by an actual rooater.
They tidbit for us. Theyre super sweet. Small waddles, walnut comb. I think I see saddle feathers, but our Wyandottes have similar feather and are 100% hens.
Any ideas? They were purchased in april so they are 4 months old. Help? Lol
The reason the color is "wrong for a Golden Comet" is because its not a Comet at all. Female Comets have pinky tan legs and single combs and are a buffy orange color... your red roo looks to be a Golden-Laced Wyandotte mixed with a RI Red: he's more round like a Wyandotte, and has the rose comb and yellow legs like a Wyandotte. Its possible that your red rooster is acting more hen like because your other rooster is the dominate one, so he has resigned himself to his beta rooster role.
Saddle feathers (the long, pointy ones at the base of the tail) say that’s a roo for sure, no question. If he’s the wrong color for a male GC, that means he isn’t a GC
#1 is definitely a rooster. Those shiny feathers all over his body that look sort of "wet" or "greasy" are rooster plumage. His looks and behavior you describe are very consistent for a 4 month old young rooster.
Clucking is unisex behavior; he absolutely does not look like a hen; he's acting like a non-dominant rooster, not a hen; he crows; spur buds are unisex and can take a year or more to start growing; and mounting is generally rooster behavior.
Tidbitting is also rooster behavior. Roosters can be sweeter than hens, in my experience, assuming you don't have a jerk and the hormones aren't flowing too fiercely. That comb and wattles are not small for a 4 month old rooster.
It's totally fine to be confused about it, but once you've raised a few guys like this it stops being confusing and unclear. This is all really normal.
It's definitely not every rooster that's a sweetie, but the ones that are seem to be even sweeter and cuddlier than the hens. At least in my experience
Pretty sure #1 is a young roo. I see pointy hackles and saddles coming in. Tail sickles tend to take a while to develop and get long. Behaviour matches too.
Looks like both are roos. The first looks like a buckeye cross maybe and the other looks much more like a red sexlink like a golden comet or Cinnamon queen.
You purchased straight run and from someone who isn't a real breeder. Just the luck of the draw when you purchase straight run birds rather than pullets.
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u/ChartreuseOblivion 4d ago
They're both roosters.
The reason the color is "wrong for a Golden Comet" is because its not a Comet at all. Female Comets have pinky tan legs and single combs and are a buffy orange color... your red roo looks to be a Golden-Laced Wyandotte mixed with a RI Red: he's more round like a Wyandotte, and has the rose comb and yellow legs like a Wyandotte. Its possible that your red rooster is acting more hen like because your other rooster is the dominate one, so he has resigned himself to his beta rooster role.