17 week old she or he? picture heavy

[MemphisChickens]

We have always suspected Fiddle was a rooster but no egg yet and no crow

I don't see any saddle feathers and he is such a sweet chicken.
All 3 of my "production red" chickens have had this weird tail thing where they get down to the last 1-2 black tail feathers and then they fall out and they look like normal chickens again.
Any guesses if Fiddle is a he or she?

 

[Caddy-Corner-Chick]

Rooster is my guess... I was actually leaning towards hen until I saw the rear tail feathers curving over

 

[tinychicky]

Quote:
X2 that's strange he hasn't crowed yet. keep us posted

 

[MemphisChickens]

My other 2 girls have the exact same thing. They each had a lot of them and then they fell out 1 by 1. I would it was weird if they all didn't have this happen. This is Fiddle's last black tail feather. I keep wondering when it will fall out.

This is Rose in the front and Fiddle in the back.

 

[technodoll]

Fiddle is 100% hen - at 17 weeks there would be definite saddle and hackle feathers if she was a roo.

Get ready for eggs soon!

 

[sdeneen2001]

Pretty sure that's a hen, and getting ready to lay.

 

[raymarkson]

Hen

 

[theoldchick]

Little Sister was confusing for me, too. She had a wattle and comb just a well developed as my 16 week Cockerels. Her tail feathers tried to do the curl then she laid a a cute dark brown egg. She never crowed but for a while there 'honked'. Now that the Cockerels are proving how usefull testosterone is she keeps them in place.

Little Sister, 6 months

Little Joe, 4 months

 

[Duramaxgirl]

Looks like a hen to me! Nice healthy looking girl!

 

[Mommy2Blaze]

Ok so if they are getting curly tail feathers does that mean they are ready to lay? I have a slw Big Mama who has 2 tail feathers that are curly. Here is a pic of them. Do I need to start looking for eggs now? They are 16-18 weeks old, can't remember exactly sorry.