I bought 5 pullets, but I know the process of sexing them isn't 100%. They're about 3 weeks old now, and I keep hearing this odd sound, different from all the other chirps. The best way to describe it is as that screeching sound when furniture scrapes against the floor. It's usually very short, and I have no idea which one of them is doing it.
Is that a normal chick sound, or is that the sound of a rooster whose voice is changing?
3 weeks is very early for a chick to start actual "crowing"...even for fast maturing broiler breeds. Wait and see. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it.
I wish I could just not worry about it. But I'm in town, and roosters are forbidden. If I do have one, I need a way to keep him quiet before the neighbors hear him.
I'm also worried that it might be my favorite chick. Assuming she's still a she, I've named her Earhart, after Amelia Earhart. She was the first of my chicks to figure out how to fly. She's also the first to try any new foods, the best hunter of the bunch, and she only escapes the brooder when she sees me nearby, because she loves to sit on my hand and cuddle!
Update: While moving the chicks from the brooder to the coop today, I noticed one has a much larger forehead ridge than the others. According to this picture, I probably have a rooster:
Surprisingly, it's not Earhart! It's one of the shyer ones that hasn't earned a name yet.
I've got some 3 1/2 week old bantam polish and cochins in a small brooder, and for several days I've been hearing a baby chick crow coming from there, but I haven't been able to catch which one is doing it. I bet it's one of the polish.
Need you a little cam on there. Even without audio, I bet you could see him flap his wings and puff up his little chest before he lets one rip.
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