Could he be a "fighting" cock?

[scratch'n'peck]

Wow Pop has a good eye for chickens with leg mites! Even vegetable oil can suffocate mites on legs, got some Pam?

He is a handsome fellow. I'm not an expert on telling how old a rooster is, but I would think their natural life span is the same as hens'.

I have Old English Game chickens and Henry's spurs actually look kind of small compared to 2 year old roos. My roosters that are about a year old have spurs that size, but I guess spur size can vary from breed to breed so it may not be the best way to guess his Henry's age.

 

[Yoder Farm]

Went outside with my husband, "cornered" all 3 chickens so we could get a look at their legs and yes, there is definitely something going on so I guess we'll be breaking out the pillow case tonight to de-mite them all. Thanks Pop for letting me know about this. I had no idea there was even such a disease and it looks like we are going to be catching this in time for it to not be a serious problem.

 

[Yoder Farm]

And he is also very smart... he's taught our hens how to "jump" over a section of chainlink fence, so they can go across into what used to be "his" yard (neighbors yard). But, he's also smart enough to not jump the fence into the street and he keeps the hens from even thinking about it. I can't help but wonder if eventually he will learn how to jump the chicken wire fence around my raised beds but he's been "good" so far.

 

[samouw]

Wow! Whatever he is, he is absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Lollipop]

scratch'n'peck :

Wow Pop has a good eye for chickens with leg mites! Even vegetable oil can suffocate mites on legs, got some Pam?

He is a handsome fellow. I'm not an expert on telling how old a rooster is, but I would think their natural life span is the same as hens'.

I have Old English Game chickens and Henry's spurs actually look kind of small compared to 2 year old roos. My roosters that are about a year old have spurs that size, but I guess spur size can vary from breed to breed so it may not be the best way to guess his Henry's age.

I used to raise Spanish games. I had a friend from Puerto Rico that also kept his roosters in my yard. He told me that roosters penned on dirt would have very long spurs compared to others. I took it as truth because my Spanish cocks would grow 3 inch spurs by the time they were two. You don`t have to believe this, but I do. The length of the spur is not a good indication of age..........Pop​

 

[scratch'n'peck]

It does seem reasonable that spur size is associated more with breed and living conditions than age. My full size couchin roo has massive spurs under all his feathers, much longer than the orpington roos' who are the same age.

Anyhow that brings us to the original question: How does one estimate the age of Henry or any chicken for that matter?