# Crowing at 9 weeks?



## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

Could our little Olivia (Olive egger pullet) be a roo? She still peeps and is very small. The last two days she (or he) has been making a very grown up sound like she is trying to crow.

We have started calling her Oliver but is it too soon to be certain? It is the black one on the left.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

That little black one? if you catch it crowing its probably a rooster, but wait it out as i have a hen who lays eggs and crows when i dont have a rooster


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They can certainly keep you guessing on what's going on. Watch the feathers for indicators of male feathering.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)




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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

She is the only olive egger so I don’t have others to compare her to. She is really small. Today she hasn’t crowed yet.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I can't tell from that pic. Maybe someone with better eye sight can see. 

Pretty little bird.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

I just added three more pictures.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That's the ones I was looking at. The bird being black, my eyesight not being what it was makes it difficult to see detail.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

Thanks robin416! Maybe someone else can take a look. We will keep her/him as long as it behaves itself. While it would be nice to have a roo to protect our flock of 7 (including the roo) we don’t want a rooster attacking us or our grandson. We also had a broody hen and bought some fertile eggs for her to hatch. She hatched two and one disappeared. We are hoping that the one left isn’t a rooster as well!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Roosters can be quite the characters to have around. The plus if that one is, is that it's small and is not much of a threat if it does get too big for its pants. 

I've had lots of roosters. Only one that was aggressive to every human and one that was aggressive only to men. The one that was only aggressive to men was a d'Uccle. It was pretty funny to watch that tiny bird chasing full grown men around. Luckily he would come when I called so the poor men could relax.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

I once had a rooster over 30 years ago and he was totally cool. I’m a little afraid now that I have a 4 year old grandson. And my partner says that he will be dinner if he starts attacking. I’m vegetarian and don’t want to see that happen. We’re still hoping someone will respond after seeing these photos and set our mind at ease. No crowing today so we are hope-full it is a pullet!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If not for the age I would feel confident in telling you to hang tight until the bird was a bit older. Even though I had about 12 roosters in pens with hens, I had one hen that thought crowing was a great idea.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

Here is another picture.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

I thought the downward tale would mean a rooster but his "sister" is holding her tail the same way. Mostly it is upright.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Looks hen to me in the pic with her tail up. i dont see any long saddle feathers


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

It’s the crowing in the morning that makes me suspicious! I guess we will know for sure in the next few weeks. Do cockerels crow when they are still at the peeping stage? I read that the crowing starts around 16 weeks.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That is just an average. There are outliers who will crow early and some that won't crow at all the first year. 

I don't know what the average age is for chickens these days but many of us have them live to ten years and beyond. So, whatever they're saying the average is now there are those that turn their beaks up to the idea they should only live for so long.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

When she plays she flares get hackles but her pullet friend does the same thing. The speckled Sussex doesn’t have wattles or comb yet but the olive egger does and that’s the one crowing.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Different breeds mature at different rates. Silkies are very slow compared to other breeds to mature.

The OE may have a defect where there are no wattles or they are very tiny. I wouldn't compare two different breeds to each other and where each is in development. That's kind of like apples and oranges.


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## lover of birds (Nov 7, 2017)

I've had cockerels start crowing at 5 weeks. There are sometimes roosters with hen feathering, but probably too early to tell.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

The crowing is every day now. If this is a pullet it would be a miracle!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That doesn't sound like a girl. Even the one hen I had that crowed did it rarely, not everyday.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Yeah its a male. my one female qho crows does not crow daily.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

Rooster ,that far of developed combs and wattles at 9 weeks =Roo


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

Nm156 said:


> Rooster ,that far of developed combs and wattles at 9 weeks =Roo


Yep, Olivia is now Oliver. He's a tiny little thing!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Let's hope he behaves himself and gets to live at your house permanently.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

So Oliver is now around 15 weeks old and we love him. Any idea what breed he is? He was obviously a huge mix up because we are pretty sure he is a bantam. He is half the size of our Speckled Sussex that is the same age.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

junebugs said:


> So Oliver is now around 15 weeks old and we love him. Any idea what breed he is? He was obviously a huge mix up because we are pretty sure he is a bantam. He is half the size of our Speckled Sussex that is the same age.
> View attachment 31124


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

junebugs said:


> View attachment 31126


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

junebugs said:


> View attachment 31128


I haven't measured him but I think he stands about 8-9 inches to the top of his comb. He was supposed to be an olive egger pullet. I don't think he is even an Olive egger.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

He looks Dutch but his tail isn't quite right. I need to dig out some of my pics to do a comparison.

And I think his earlobes should be white. Although they might still develop as he matures.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Or he's an Old English. That would fit for the non white earlobes.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

robin416 said:


> Or he's an Old English. That would fit for the non white earlobes.


Are those really small breeds or could he be a bantam? Or do roosters sometimes start out tiny and then have growth spurts?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They are both bantams. 

I would think that he should be at least as big as the one you compared him to but you described as being quite a bit smaller so it probably is a bantam. Even better, bantams can't do much damage if they get fiesty with their humans.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

robin416 said:


> They are both bantams.
> 
> I would think that he should be at least as big as the one you compared him to but you described as being quite a bit smaller so it probably is a bantam. Even better, bantams can't do much damage if they get fiesty with their humans.


Thank you! We think he is so handsome and are so happy that he accidentally came into our lives!


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## Hencackle (Apr 30, 2014)

He's a handsome fella. Is it me, or does he seem to stand like a Serama? Seramas are itty bitty, about the height of a can of Coke. Maybe a Serama mix? We need BantyChickMom to see Oliver's pics.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I thought that for a moment but Dutch can have that same stance. I didn't raise OE's so I don't know much about them.


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## junebugs (May 16, 2017)

Hencackle said:


> He's a handsome fella. Is it me, or does he seem to stand like a Serama? Seramas are itty bitty, about the height of a can of Coke. Maybe a Serama mix? We need BantyChickMom to see Oliver's pics.


Whatever he is, he is probably not a mix. I got him from a woman that buys her chicks from a hatchery and then sells them when they are coop ready. She sold him to me as an olive egger pullet. Somebody at the hatchery obviously made a big mistake!

He is going to happily live with 5 big girls twice his size!


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