Cockerel vs Pullet

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nwe319

nwe319

In the Brooder
7 Years
Mar 16, 2012
54
0
41
North Carolina
Below is two pictures of a 22 week old Buff Orpington/Rhode Island Red chicken. The first picture is the Hen/Rooster in question. The bottom pic is for sure a rooster. The chicken in question has larger comb and waddles than the obvious hens, and I have seen her/him mounting hens, however I do not know if this is a mating mount or a dominance mount. Any help would be greatly appreciated.



 
I'm definitely leaning towards roo, but do you have any pics of the feathers on the back of his neck/ or right in front of his tail?
 
I am going to say roo...
Stance, Hackle feathers look long and narrow by the tail...
I have not had Orpington; and the ones I have seen are rather large and beefy looking boys... he is young, so maybe he still need to grow.

so there you go.
an opinion.
 
I say the upper picture is of a hen. At 22 weeks, the tail feathers would be curved in a classic rooster tail fashion, the waddles/combs would be much larger. Finally, at 22 weeks, RIRs/PR all have green tail feathers while the cockerel's natural oil glands will be on full production. Thus he would be much shinier than you chicken. The dull coloring. lack of sheen, on the feathers leads me to be convinced it is a she. From looks, and comparing her to pics of by former BO, you'll probably be getting eggs soon.

I also forgot to add, at 22 weeks, a rooster would be crowing by now and it would have its spurs. From your pic, it doesn't look like your bird has spurs and since you haven't mentioned any possible crowing, I am doubly sure you have a hen.
 
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I vote slow maturing rooster. The stance, the leg thickness, looks like it may be getting sex feathers, and the darker shading on the wing all say boy. I've seen buff orps here that are six months and aren't mature yet. Having another rooster around can inhibit crowing and normal mating behavior, esp if the other roo is quite dominant. Many roosters don't get spurs until a year or so, and some hens get spurs, so that's not a reliable indicator.

Could you post again in a month or so, let us know how it looks?
 
That's a roo for me, just in disguise so he doesn't get beaten up by the more mature roo! I can see a light patch of saddle feathers coming through, a closer pic will help to confirm though.
 
Do you have a closer up picture? At first glance I would say pullet but im not sure if Im seeing saddle feathers or if its just the pic.
 
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