16 week old Starlight Green Egger. Need help with gender

[Ben_ep1]

Hello! We raised four chicks to now 16 weeks old and thought all of them for sure to be hens. Our starlight green egger is now perhaps looking more rooster-like. We looked at her wings in the first week and were 100% positive she was a hen based off the two stepped wing. Her size and tail feathers developed the quickest out of all the hens. She showed no behavioral signs of being a rooster. Her comb developed at a similar rate as our other girls, and she does not have any waddle right now, when our other pullets do.

We’re concerned because we can’t have a rooster within city limits, but we don’t want to give her up unless we absolutely have to.

I’ve attached some pictures for reference. Please let me know what you think!

 

[fluffycrow]

He’s a cockerel. Wing sexing doesn’t work unless bred for, and using tail growth is a very poor sex indicator, as you have found

 

[Ben_ep1]

He’s a cockerel. Wing sexing doesn’t work unless bred for, and using tail growth is a very poor sex indicator, as you have found

The only thing is she’s 16 weeks old and has never shown any signs of crowing. Typically SGEs crow anywhere from 10-15 weeks.

 

[LaFleche]

High time to find him a new home if you are not allowed to keep roosters.

 

[LaFleche]

The only thing is she’s 16 weeks old and has never shown any signs of crowing. Typically SGEs crow anywhere from 10-15 weeks.

Some start very early, and others start very late.

Here are the pointers to him being male:

Long, pointy and shiny saddle feathers, pointy and shiny hackles, red shoulder patches.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@LaFleche is right, thhere is no doubt that ìs a cockerel. In Pic #1 as he's facing the camera his long blond hackle feathers make him look like a rock star. As you compare Pic #2 tp Pic #3, it's obvious. His flowing saddle feathers in front of his tail are very evident and his entire stance is so different from that of the pullet in Pic #3. Finally, that big red shoulder patch. Compare to thhe few red feathers on the pullet's wings, farther back. Sorry, but there's just no doubt.

 

[fluffycrow]

The only thing is she’s 16 weeks old and has never shown any signs of crowing. Typically SGEs crow anywhere from 10-15 weeks.

I’m not exactly sure how this came about. No LF cockerel here has crowed before the 5 month mark.

Each bird is an individual, and while the maturation rate of the breed can be taken into account, each male will crow at his own pace

 

[FrostRanger]

100% a cockerel. Bearded birds don't have wattles and he has a pea comb which doesn't get very big. He has a male specific color pattern and male specific feathering. Feather sexing only works on specific crosses and tail growth doesn't mean much until a certain age

 

[TicaCielo]

 

[WingItRanch]

No doubt he's a cockerel.

My boy didn't crow until well after 6 months old. There's no set timeframe for crowing.