Cornish X Roo or pullet???

[desertchicken92]

A lady on craigslist is giving away a free cornish x because they sold a batch and this one was friendly so they dont want it to be eaten. I'll keep it as a pet only if its a pullet. These pictures were taken around June 20th, I dont know the age of the chicken. Any help sexing it would be great. so, Roo or pullet???

 

[Basskids08]

It's young, probably about 4 weeks, looking like a cockerel too!

 

[Kelsie2290]

X2 on probable cockerel, considering how fast they grow, as small as it is that is a lot of comb.

 

[desertchicken92]

She suspects hen, but...I guess thats why she's trying to get rid of it for free and so fast... I had my doubts, thanks guys!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Cockerel

 

[BantamLover21]

Probably a cockerel.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Looks like a male to me.

 

[Michael OShay]

I'll keep it as a pet only if its a pullet.

Why you would want a Cornish X pullet instead of a cockerel? The Cornish X are bred to be abnormally fast growing meat birds, and the hens are basically worthless as layers. Cornish X are usually butchered for the table at 8-10 weeks. If you wait much later than that, they start to develop all kinds of health problems due to their abnormally fast growth, and the hens rarely live to reach laying age, and even if they do, they are huge feed consumers and very poor layers. Since they are only good as meat birds, and since the cockerels get somewhat larger than the hens, most people usually prefer to purchase the cockerels for eating purposes.