Hen humping another hen? or is she a roo?

Meet Cinnamon... a red frizzle cochin bantam. She/He is about 13 weeks old as of today. The picture was taken two weeks ago. Her comb was mainly straight and yellow until about a week before this picture. When the comb got bigger and more orange, I decided that she must be a boy. Last week though, I sold my main rooster Henry whose comb and waddles were twice the size and very red. Since then, Cinnamon has been pulling hair and pecking the others. Even though Cinnamon didn't crow, I still believed Cinnamon to be a rooster and that he was asserting dominance and taking over the flock. Then, he started laying down with his butt in the air all the time. A 4h friend said that this might mean Cinnamon is a girl. She was misbehaving last night so I put her and her little sister in a pen together by themselves. This morning, I went into the garage to find her humping her sister. I thought, "well that solves that mystery". Now I'm being told that Cinnamon could still be a girl but just asserting her dominance with the main rooster gone. Neither are laying eggs. The other one's comb is a little smaller but I question both their genders.

Any guesses or advice?




Don't be fooled by that cute fluffy sassy butt.. he/she is a little toot.

At 13 weeks with that much comb and wattle development, I'd say cockerel. Laying down with his butt in the air - I'm not sure what that means but it's not a sign of a pullet. Plus, he was mating a hen!

That's a cockerel.

I've heard hens can occasionally mount other hens, but not pullets this young. It's older, dominant hens usually with ovarian/hormonal issues that would mount another bird. At this age, with that comb and the darker shading on the wings, that's a cockerel.

At 13 weeks no eggs would be laid. Too early. It's a cockerel.

Thanks for the replies! I am posting an updated picture that I took today of her **cough** err.. him. The problem is.. the second picture is of the 'sister' that Cinnamon was humping this morning. After reading through your posts, are they both boys? They were born April 1st... which I just recalculated that they are twelve weeks old. I knew things would get a bit weird after I removed the main rooster and his sidekick but ya.... I feel sad that I think I have to find both of these boys homes. Should I wait until they crow? Is the second one a roo too?

Cinnamon is also a cockerel, sorry

Thank you for the reply. The second one (smooth) is actually named Itty Bit. I was really hoping she was a girl. Cinnamon is the curly boy in the top picture (in the background of the second picture). Sorry if that was unclear.

So... why do you think the rooster was humping the other rooster this morning? They were the only two in the pen because Cinnamon is being too rough with the others. Itty Bit was completely submissive and continued to lay down even after Cinnamon stepped off his back. Perhaps the removal of the two head roosters this week?

This is so confusing because the other two frizzle rooster's combs were twice as big and they crowed weeks ago (around the same age). I guess we all develop at different rates.

Sorry I got the names wrong! But yep, both boys, and they all do develop at different rates. I've had roosters not crow until seven or eight months, and, just for fun, here's my rooster Lime at 12 weeks:



And six months:



So yes, they all develop at different rates

Aww, Lime is a beautiful rooster! Is he a bantam cochin too? Henry, the rooster who was my main rooster, started crowing at three weeks of age. It was a puny little crow, but a crow. His comb was as big as your rooster's comb at six weeks. His sister, though, has a small yellow comb barely seen. They were so easy to sex. Learning more everyday.

Lime's some sort of production red mix, we're not really sure what he is, he came from a local agricultural college so he's a mutt of some kind. And a very late blooming one! I knew I was keeping him either way so I wasn't worried, but it was killing me not knowing his sex, lol.