A bit of an anomaly

[malayka]

Hi!

What breed is this chicken? I think it is an Orpington but I'm not sure. Also, is it a rooster or a hen? It is around 5 months old, but the comb and waddles are much more redder and three times the size of its companions of the same age and breed, it also has a different body shape, longer and leaner while the others are rounder and shorter.It has very different behaviour from the other chickens. It makes an ear-splitting noise in the mornings, is much more confident with humans than the other two and struts about with head held high dominating the rest of the flock. I adore this chicken, such a dear and while we can keep roosters, I would like to know, lol.
I'm new to chickens but by this age I'm sure you can tell their gender?


Thank you so much!

 

[sourland]

Sounds like a cockerel, but we need a picture to effectively gender guess.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Welcome!
As sourland said it sounds like you likely have a cockerel on your harms, but a photo will be needed to answer for sure and to id the breed for you

 

[drumstick diva]

please post photos

 

[Cheep N Peep]

please post photos

x2

 

[malayka]

I thought I had posted a photo but it seems like it has floated off into cyberspace. I'll try again as soon I've figured it out.

BTW, thanks for your welcome!

 

[BantamLover21]

Once you can post a photo, I'll be happy to help sex/identify your bird.

 

[mymilliefleur]

Once you can post a photo, I'll be happy to help sex/identify your bird.

X2 -- and

 

[malayka]

Hi, I'm back again,
Thanks so much, I wasn't able to post a picture but it is confirmed that I have a buff Orpington who is also a rooster.
We are shocked to be honest, we've had them since they were chicks (8 months old now) and for 7 months the rooster looked exactly like his sisters. However, for the past month or so he has doubled in size, grown a beautiful curly tail, and a huge comb. We were still trying to deny reality and hoping it was a masculine hen but he crowed this morning. He is such a gorgeous golden mass of feathers and cuddles. Whilst we are allowed to keep him, I have a few questions which I hope you can answer.

1. As we thought he was a hen for so long, we treated him like a hen. On a daily basis he was picked up and cuddled (he loved attention) and he would fall asleep on our laps for hours on end, he was handfed and regularly brought into the house for a bath (thankfully it has stopped now but he would regularly dirty his vent feathers. Even now he runs to be picked up (although he's so heavy lol) and I've read a rooster shouldn't be treated like this?

2. We have just two hens - will he put too much attention on them? One is a bantam orpington the other is standard-sized, pretty big but our rooster is HUGE. I have never seen him try and mate with them but when he does could he harm them?

3. Finally, could he turn aggressive with us?

Thanks you so much, we do love this particular chicken but we just weren't expecting a rooster and neither are we prepared for the way a rooster needs do be treated.
Thank you!

 

[junebuggena]

Buff Orpington roosters have a reputation of being gentle giants. You almost never hear about aggressive Orpington boys. But yes, he will be too much boy for just two girls. Young males mate several times a day. His weight will be too much for the bantam, and his repeated attentions combined with his size could cause injury to either girl.
If getting more girls (at least 6 more) isn't an option, it would be best to rehome him.