32 week old Australorp....is she a hen?

[Lis86]

Can anyone help me. I have what I think is an Australorp hen, but I'm going a little bit bonkers. I've been waiting patiently for her to lay since my other 2 girls started laying and still no egg. She is just over 32 weeks old. To me she looks like a hen in shape and feathers, although with larger wattles than the others, but these are my first chickens. She is not significantly larger in size than my laying hens of the same age. However she has started to crow, and I have now read about hens that can crow, so I'm even more confused. Would her tail feathers be more developed by this age?

Do I have a late bloomer hen or a feminine cockerel? She is the beautiful black "girl" in the photos.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Oh, she's all girl.... I'd give it more time... and look around in some of the cracks and crevices around your property... under bushes etc. She could be stashing her eggs.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Looks female to me.

 

[Acre4Me]

A female.
32 weeks is late, but could be a stealth layer with a secret . Have you checked her vent? Or her pelvic spacing? These can tell you if she’s actually laying currently. Sorry, no links, but vent should be moist and not tight, pelvic spacing is how many fingers you should be able to place on the outside of her body in the pelvic area- you can compare her to your known layers.

sometimes, a female just doesn’t lay for some internal reason.

 

[Painted Calls]

Pretty pullet.

 

[clickchicks]

If it helps, my Australorp was a late bloomer too. She didn't lay her first egg until almost 9 months old... but she's been a super consistent layer sense and averages about 5 a week!

 

[esme13]

Definitely a hen !