Barred Rock Hen, or Roo?

mimijacobs · Jul 22, 2012

My barred rock "hen" is about 14-16 weeks old and has developed a gorgeous but troubling set of bright red full comb and wattles. However, I have never heard a crow out of "her" and two of the 3 new hen group that she is part of are laying - brown eggs. Since the other two are a RIR and an Americauna, I could of sworn it was "Rocki" doing part of the laying as the Americauna would lay either green or blue shelled eggs. Has anyone ever heard of a BR hen having such bright/full combs/wattles? I've seen no sign of a "saddle" on her but then this being the first BR I've ever owned, might not know what I'm looking at? Here's a pic taken through the fencing, don't know if it helps or not.

sourland · Jul 22, 2012

14 to 16 weeks old is very early for any hens to be laying, but it is not at all unusual for BR to develop 'bright red full combs and wattles'. It's sort of hard to view her through the hardware cloth, but she looks to be a pullet.

mimijacobs · Jul 22, 2012

Whew, thanks! It's just I see all these pics on here of the hens and they all have tiny little combs and almost no wattle, so obviously that would cause me a bit of hesitation! Her entire behavior/attitude has always been that of a hen, so I am hopeful she is really a SHE