4 month old Maran hen or rooster?

[Chicknlady16]

Hi all,
Earlier this week one of my friends gave me one of their chickens. He said it was a female Maran who was born at the end of February (based on my research and my knowledge of where this friend gets his chicks I am guessing a feather legged french cuckoo Maran from cackle hatchery).

I already had 5 chickens of various breeds all 5-6 months old, and this new supposedly younger hen, who has been named Janet Yel-hen, seemed much larger and more mature than my existing chickens. I just attributed it to breed differences, but yesterday I was napping around 5 pm when I was startled awake by a loud chicken noise. It was not quite the full crow of a rooster, but it was definitely seemed related and different than the sounds I normally hear my female chickens make. The same thing happened this morning around 6:40 (about 40 minutes after the sun came up).

This has all left me wondering if Janet is just missing the roosters from her old flock and doing some vocal mimicking or if Jerome Fowl would have been a more appropriate name. I live with in city limits, so if I have a rooster I will need to get rid of it and want to return him before I get to emotionally attached (though it is probably too late for that). I have attached some photos. Any assistance/insight would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[pennyJo1960]

would vote cockerel at this stage my girls sing an egg song completely different from my cockerel

 

[Silkie2]

i'm guessing cockerel.
tail feathers look pretty curved.

 

[redranger209]

I’m not sure. No male feathers, but the comb and waddles are huge. Either she’s a cockerel or an adult hen.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Looks like a cockerel to me too.

The tail feathers are very curved, even in the saddle area.

Assuming the 5 month age is correct, that is very large red comb you would expect of a male Marans.

With the tail feathers, and noise in the morning, your friend gave you a rooster.

One trick when in doubt with barred birds, as it can be hard to see beginning saddle feathers, is to take a flashlight and shine it at night on the hackles and saddle area. Normal hen feathers diffuse the light while the heavier spikes of the male feathers will flash.

Shine on another hen to see what hen feathers do, then shine on the barred suspect. This usually works at the beginning of the male saddle spikes (but not always...sometimes you have to wait for them to develop more).

I think you've got a rooster there anyway.

LofMc

 

[ChickNanny13]

Cockerel, the tail & if you look really close in the 5th pic, I see the saddle feathering starting to "flow" Or maybe it's my old eyes