DO I HAVE A ROO? He/she was sold to me as a "pullet" 😏

[ArraAchicksMama]

yes, she is about 14 weeks now.

You're positive it's a "she"?

 

[rosemarythyme]

You're positive it's a "she"?

You doubt us so much...

 

[NatJ]

You're positive it's a "she"?

Can anyone tell me whether I have a rooster or a pullet? 15 weeks old.

Comb & wattles:
I would expect that much comb & wattles on a male around 6 weeks (plus or minus a little bit.)
That much comb & wattles are appropriate for a female that is close to laying age.
An adult hen might have a comb & wattles a little bigger yet.

Sounds/behavior:
At age 15 weeks, a male would probably have been crowing for quite a while. He probably would have started mating with the females some time ago, too.
You have not mentioned any crowing or mating.

Coloring:
Some colors can happen in chickens of either sex (example: solid black). Some colors happen only in one sex, or mostly in one sex.
I would say your bird has a color that mostly happens in females, and is quite rare in males.

Feathering:
Adult roosters are expected to have skinny, pointy feathers growing from their saddle area (on the back just in front of the tail). By age 15 weeks, cockerels usually have those, but your bird does not.

So I think chances are very high that you do have a female. When she starts to lay eggs, please do update us.

(Most of what I just said is sorting or re-stating what other people have said in the course of this thread. But sometimes it helps to lay it all out in one place.)

Of course there are exceptions to many things with chickens.
Some males develop very slowly. A slow-developing male might have the comb & wattles, the behavior, and the absence of saddle feathers that your bird is showing. But hatchery Easter Eggers are generally selected for quick development, not slow. So I think this is quite unlikely.

A few males have a gene called "hen feathering." That means they have the feather shapes and the colors that are normally found in hens. That gene is found in the Sebright breed, but would be very unexpected in an Easter Egger from a hatchery. Again, I do not think this is what your chicken has.

So I am not entirely POSITIVE that you have a pullet, but I am pretty sure about the matter. I do think you should keep that bird a bit longer and see. These things usually become much more clear with time.

 

[ArraAchicksMama]

Comb & wattles:
I would expect that much comb & wattles on a male around 6 weeks (plus or minus a little bit.)
That much comb & wattles are appropriate for a female that is close to laying age.
And adult hen might have a comb & wattles a little bigger yet.

Sounds/behavior:
At age 15 weeks, a male would probably have been crowing for quite a while. He probably would have started mating with the females some time ago, too.
You have not mentioned any crowing or mating.

Coloring:
Some colors can happen in chickens of either sex (example: solid black). Some colors happen only in one sex, or mostly in one sex.
I would say your bird has a color that mostly happens in females, and is quite rare in males.

Feathering:
Adult roosters are expected to have skinny, pointy feathers growing from their saddle area (on the back just in front of the tail). By age 15 weeks, cockerels usually have those, but your bird does not.

So I think chances are very high that you do have a female. When she starts to lay eggs, please do update us.

(Most of what I just said is sorting or re-stating what other people have said in the course of this thread. But sometimes it helps to lay it all out in one place.)

Of course there are exceptions to many things with chickens.
Some males develop very slowly. A slow-developing male might have the comb & wattles, the behavior, and the absence of saddle feathers that your bird is showing. But hatchery Easter Eggers are generally selected for quick development, not slow. So I think this is quite unlikely.

A few males have a gene called "hen feathering." That means they have the feather shapes and the colors that are normally found in hens. That gene is found in the Sebright breed, but would be very unexpected in an Easter Egger from a hatchery. Again, I do not think this is what your chicken has.

So I am not entirely POSITIVE that you have a pullet, but I am pretty sure about the matter. I do think you should keep that bird a bit longer and see. These things usually become much more clear with time.

Thank you I appreciate your education

 

[LyndsayJade]

Based on all these answers, I am curious. Are those feathers not considered pointed? I have a chickens with feathers pointed like that and I assumed she was a hen (also sold to me as a hen).

 

[MysteryChicken]

Based on all these answers, I am curious. Are those feathers not considered pointed? I have a chickens with feathers pointed like that and I assumed she was a hen (also sold to me as a hen). View attachment 4212105

100% a Cockerel, as well the one behind him.

 

[LyndsayJade]

100% a Cockerel, as well the one behind him.

Yes, I knew mine were. Lol I was hoping since everyone is calling the post's chicken a pullet, I was hoping I was wrong with mine

 

[MysteryChicken]

Yes, I knew mine were. Lol I was hoping since everyone is calling the post's chicken a pullet, I was hoping I was wrong with mine

Oh, okay. But yes the the original bird in question is a pullet. It's just the pattern in the Saddles that had them thinking cockerel.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Based on all these answers, I am curious. Are those feathers not considered pointed?

They are not. They look pointed at a glance because of the pattern, but it's an optical illusion. If you zoom in...

you can see that the feather edges are actually rounded.

Compared to the pointed feather contours of a cockerel.

 

[kattabelly]

Patterning can definitely make feathers look more pointed than they are, but I think just describing male saddle and hackle feathers as "pointed" can be confusing for people who don't know what they're looking for. Female feathers can be somewhat pointed too, especially at the hackle - it's a wide, blunt point though, whereas male feathers are much narrower (and longer but not when they've only just started growing in, which is when people often ask).