# Wyandotte. Male or female?



## Alexandra

Hello,
this is my first post, and my first year with chickens. 
I am very happy with mine, although they does not seem to be all Red Wyandottes. Never mind, because they are mostly friendly, and I just love them.

What I am asking for. Please keep in mind, I am a beginner, so do not think how stupid this question is. I have this cutie. Her name is Lieschen, she is born at the 4th of April, so she gonna be four month soon.

I have seen a lot of pics of Wyandottes, but it is not clear for me.
Can I call her Lieschen further on, or did I have to pic a male name?







Thank you, for your help!


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## robin416

I'm not new to chickens but sexing hard feathered birds is not my forte. Fiere or Nm are better than I am at it. They will probably be along later

BTW, welcome to the forum.


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## zamora

Welcome to the forum! I'm another newbie to chickens so I can't help you on the ID of yours. I'm learning as I go as well.


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## Fiere

That's a cockerel. See the saddle feathers back by the tail? Hens will have round, soft feathers that match the rest of their body. Roosters will have sickle feathers, which are long, thin and pointy with a good sheen (like a sickle lol). Your boy has sickles.


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## robin416

Fiere, I saw those. But I'm only comfortable when they're all long and pointy. That one was just not enough in my face to sound stupid saying it was one or the other. 

I need to see a bird of the same age that is female. A side by side if you will.


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## Fiere

You can be safe to say on a bird this age that feathers like that mean cockerel. Sickle saddles look a lot different than a hen saddle. That sheen and point is unmistakable.


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## rosco47

welcome to the party Alexandra. that is a Purdy bird you got there! I'm positive that is a rooster- not because I am an expert but solely based on the fact the Fiere said so lol. 
my next new birds will likely be Wyandotte. keep posting pics. as Robin said, it would be good to see a side by side of a few of your birds.
look forward to having you around! cheers


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## robin416

That side by side thing is to try and help me learn to identify the different sexes at different ages. I wish someone had more Silkies, at least I'd feel useful.


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## rosco47

yea Robin...useful...because you currently contribute nothing to the forum....ba ha ha
don't let Robin fool ya. she's a humble avian encyclopedia


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## robin416

Ah shucks, thank you Rosco. 

What are the questions we see the most of? Yep, that's right. What sex is my bird? If not for Fiere and until recently Nm it's a question I can rarely answer.

Knowing how to research and having a medical background makes it easier for me to answer health questions.

It kind of flummoxes my doc when I have answers to stuff she's not aware of. Research, research and more research.


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## Fiere

I have a Silkie! Hatched her this year when I was doing incubation in the classroom at my daughters school. She's a riot.


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## Fiere

And yes, Robin is a humble avian encyclopedia. She just fronts that she knows nothing haha

And I'm no expert myself, I just have seen enough birds come into their own that I know the signs - sickle feathers are what you wait for when you have no idea what else to look for and I use them a lot on my wtf? birds.


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## robin416

One? You only have one? I thought you had several there. I know we have a couple of others with them but those are older birds, kind of easy for anyone to sex when they're already laying or crowing.

And most of it is just commons sense. Something that too many seem to lack these days. And once again I'll mention VetRX in a bird's eyes. I actually told someone that recommended it they should put it in their own eyes first and then let us know how that feels. Never heard anything out of them again. Either they turned blind doing it or decided there was no way to win that argument unless they did do it. Guess what forum that was on.


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## Fiere

I did have a couple but most were cockerels and two I lost to unfortunate circumstances. I hatched one hen and one hen I shall keep.


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## Alexandra

Hello,

first of all, thank you for your warm welcome. 
"Lieschen" is a man, but I think I can live with that. 

I started with ten Wyandotte eggs, and got six chickens out of them. But soon I realized that there is something wrong. One was bigger then the rest, and one of the other ones was was quite "special". As they lived with me in the house for the first time I hardly had some quiet night. "She" was very noisy and dominant. And today I know why...
Sometimes, when I sit in the garden, "Lieschen" came around and behind me, knocking at my back. "She" is very vivid, but I like here because of her special personality.

I want to write sooner. But I was not able to shot more pics. We had some very rainy days here.

But today the sun came out, and they were willing to stand still. For some time...

First of all: "Lieschen".
I hope the pics will help other beginners to see the male feathers. 








One thing worries me. I have two grown up Welsumer, and they are both round about 5-6 month old (these are pullets). But when Lieschen sees them she is running. How will she (I still say she ) ever take the control over them? (You know what I mean ;-) )


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## Alexandra

And some of the others. You see, these are no Wyandottes, but they are sold me as eggs that will bring up some.
They are all from the same hatch.




This is Emmi.
She is special. She was always the smallest, and looked different to the others, even to Lieschen, who looked different in another way.

And this is Henriette:
Just her back...she is a little shy.



Some of the others:



They are quite mixed up. But as I said, I do not mind about that, because I fell in love with them. 
That are no Wyandottes, but what do you think can it be?


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## 8hensalaying

I am no help as I also am new to this process. but wanted to say Welcome! You do have some pretty birds with loads of personality showing through  Do you mind if I ask where you are from? For some reason when I read your posts in my mind I am hearing a lovely accent .


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## zamora

You truly do have some beautiful birds, welcome and thanks for the pictures!


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## robin416

Ah, accent, what a lovely way to put it. 

I love that mahogany color. Those photos straight down on the backs are an excellent way to see those sex feathers.

I'm another one that can't id them and I'm not new to chickens.


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## rosco47

I'm by no stretch an expert but what makes you think they aren't wyandottes?
they appear to have the comb and other features of a Wyandotte. I'm not sure on the coloring as I am not sure what a red Wyandotte is supposed to look like...?
regardless those are some good looking birds ya got der.


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## Alexandra

8hensalaying said:


> I am no help as I also am new to this process. but wanted to say Welcome! You do have some pretty birds with loads of personality showing through  Do you mind if I ask where you are from? For some reason when I read your posts in my mind I am hearing a lovely accent .


You must hear me talk. Then you would hear an accent for sure.  I will tell you where i live, but first of all have a guess. 



zamora said:


> You truly do have some beautiful birds, welcome and thanks for the pictures!


Thank you.



robin416 said:


> Ah, accent, what a lovely way to put it.
> 
> I love that mahogany color. Those photos straight down on the backs are an excellent way to see those sex feathers.
> 
> I'm another one that can't id them and I'm not new to chickens.


I hope you understand me. 
I am sorry that you can not id them. It´s not important to me, but i would likely know it.



rosco47 said:


> I'm by no stretch an expert but what makes you think they aren't wyandottes?
> they appear to have the comb and other features of a Wyandotte. I'm not sure on the coloring as I am not sure what a red Wyandotte is supposed to look like...?
> regardless those are some good looking birds ya got der.


Hm, I think Emmi might be a Wyandotte. But the other brown ones? Their butt looks so different. Emmi is more round up at the end of her body. 
But I am not sure at all. As I wrote, this are my first chicks.


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## Nm156

some kind of red island reds?


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## 8hensalaying

Alexandra said:


> You must hear me talk. Then you would hear an accent for sure.  I will tell you where i live, but first of all have a guess.


My guess is you are from Germany, Basing that solely on the name you gave your chicken in the original post. I understood you perfectly, the way you write is very charming. I have this discussion with my husband many times, He is from Africa, speaks fluent Afrikaans, German, English, and can "Get by" conversing in several other languages. It is very interesting in how many different ways things can be translated, and still say basically the same thing.


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## rosco47

I could see some RIR and some Wyandotte...hatchery might have had an oops. but hey, if you like it I love it.


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## Alexandra

Nm156 said:


> some kind of red island reds?


I have taken an eye on the Red Island Reds that are named Rodeländer in my Language. You might be right, but I have too less experience to confirm it. I will post more pics, when they get older.



8hensalaying said:


> My guess is you are from Germany, Basing that solely on the name you gave your chicken in the original post. I understood you perfectly, the way you write is very charming. I have this discussion with my husband many times, He is from Africa, speaks fluent Afrikaans, German, English, and can "Get by" conversing in several other languages. It is very interesting in how many different ways things can be translated, and still say basically the same thing.


You are absolutely right!  I am from Germany. I should have told that I named the other ones Emmi (after Emma, the heroine of the Jane Austen book), Cathy (after the heroine of Wuthering Heights) and Amanda because of her precious behavior. That would make it less easier for you to guess my first language.



rosco47 said:


> I could see some RIR and some Wyandotte...hatchery might have had an oops. but hey, if you like it I love it.


I love them very much. It was never important for me to get purebred.

One thing still worries me. My "man"  is still so female. He is shy, easily afraid of noises, and hmmmm how can I explain it? To make it short... I miss his balls.  Two days ago I had to pick him out of my plum tree. He has seen a cat. After an hour i caught him, sat him on my shoulder, to get down the ladder. And what did he do? Jumped on my head and made his childish noise, which he made as he was small. Heaven help, I thought.


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## robin416

The little boys can be so much fun. They are so torn between being a whiny baby and a tough guy that they usually do just what yours did. 

Once they get past that teenage stage they can be such stately creatures.


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