Can anyone tell if I'm a hen or rooster yet?

[chickenpiedpiper]

are there spur bumps? I dont see any spur bumps, looks like a hen to me as well

 

[HorseFeathers]

Quote:
Hens can have spurs too

 

[emilysteng]

Thanks for all the replies!! Looks like 8 to 1 for Hen so far! I hope so too. Any guesses on her age?

 

[jeslewmazer]

Quote:
Agree. Age can be tricky but my guess would be young around 1-2yrs of age.

 

[emilysteng]

Really? My guess was a several months. Definitely less than 1 year though. I'm just going on my experience with my one hen who showed up around the same time last year and didn't fully grow her comb or start laying eggs till earlier this year.

 

[jeslewmazer]

Game hens, through my experience, can start laying anywhere from 6months up to about 2yrs old. Depends on the hen. Average is 1 1/2 yrs. Could be 6+ months. I have had game hens that never got over 4lbs no matter how old, and yet others that don't fill out until they become a fully mature hen at 2yrs.

 

[jeslewmazer]

It's kinda hard to tell how big she is. Plus some hens are can be really old and look younger than a 2yr old hen.

 

[emilysteng]

Hmm, very interesting. Yeah, my girl Casino - the one I'm talking about - is less than 4 pounds. Here she is a year ago (these taken June 30, 2009) when she showed up. Sorry - not very good pics but they're all I have.

And here she is recently.

Any guesses on her age based on this info?? I have been saying a little over a year all this time, but maybe I'm way off.

 

[jeslewmazer]

Yes it is hard to tell from those pics but she looks like she was at least 4-6months old and hitting closer to 2yrs vs 1yr in the recent pic. Game chickens mature slower than standard poultry. I found out very quickly when I got my first standard poultry. Size vs Age is about doubled. 2month old games are about half the size of 2month old standard, and so on.

 

[emilysteng]

I guess that makes sense that they don't grow as quickly as standard poultry. Very interesting!! Thanks for all the info!

The other mystery is where these chickens who aren't afraid of us come from! (all the other wild chickens around here are really frightened by people) My friend's theory is that these people down the road who raise roosters ( I think for fighting

) have these chickens they don't want and drop them off. Sounds a little crazy but who knows ?- anything is possible. That is why she thinks this new chicken is a hen.