Help! Is my hen really a rooster?

[Jenny Bee]

I am wondering please if you can tell whether Louise is really Lou. I heard he crow twice. He’s 3 months old with no wattle yet. his feathers look more pointy but I’m just not sure.

 

[Tookie]

Thinking Pullet.

 

[Tookie]

Also welcome to BYC!

 

[Earthdale]

What breed is he/she? It is unusual but not unheard of for a hen to crow.

 

[AmeraucanaHank]

well if he crowed then he's probably a him!

 

[NatJ]

I heard he crow twice.

Crowing usually means male.
Hens that crow are rare, and pullets that crow are even more rare.

He’s 3 months old with no wattle yet.

That bird has a pea comb, like many Easter Eggers do. The pea comb gene changes the shape of the comb, but it also makes the comb and wattles much smaller than they would otherwise be. Chickens with pea combs can be harder to sex for that reason.

I notice the comb is very red, which usually indicates a male in chickens of that age.

his feathers look more pointy

It can be hard to judge the shape of feathers when a chicken has markings like that. I think I'm seeing pointy black markings inside rounded feathers with white edges, so I would consider the white eges to be the overall feather shape. (The bird might still be male, but might not have grown the typical pointy male feathers yet. Or I might just be missing something in the photos.)

but I’m just not sure.

I can see why!

If you are sure the bird did crow, then I would consider it definitely a male, regardless of anything in the appearance that might suggest otherwise. If you keep "him" for a while longer, the gender will probably become more obvious. And of course, if "he" lays an egg, you can come tell me I'm wrong

 

[Jenny Bee]

Thank you all so much!! He or she is suppose to be a Prairie Blue Bell. He crowed twice total in the last week. Kind of a pathetic crow but a crow nonetheless.

It just baffles me that he has no wattle as all. He’s buddies with my other hen.
I called many places to see if they would take him.. if he is a rooster … and no one wants a rooster.

He also doesn’t look anything like the prairie blue belll pictures online .

I’m not allowed to have him … so if he is a rooster I’m going to sadly have to find somewhere that will take him.

Any suggestions?

 

[Jenny Bee]

Crowing usually means male.
Hens that crow are rare, and pullets that crow are even more rare.


That bird has a pea comb, like many Easter Eggers do. The pea comb gene changes the shape of the comb, but it also makes the comb and wattles much smaller than they would otherwise be. Chickens with pea combs can be harder to sex for that reason.

I notice the comb is very red, which usually indicates a male in chickens of that age.


It can be hard to judge the shape of feathers when a chicken has markings like that. I think I'm seeing pointy black markings inside rounded feathers with white edges, so I would consider the white eges to be the overall feather shape. (The bird might still be male, but might not have grown the typical pointy male feathers yet. Or I might just be missing something in the photos.)


I can see why!

If you are sure the bird did crow, then I would consider it definitely a male, regardless of anything in the appearance that might suggest otherwise. If you keep "him" for a while longer, the gender will probably become more obvious. And of course, if "he" lays an egg, you can come tell me I'm wrong

Thank you for taking the time to really look at him and explain . I appreciate it !

 

[Jadeann123]

My Nugget crows ALOT and I know she’s a she. She gives me eggs every day

 

[NatJ]

He or she is suppose to be a Prairie Blue Bell...doesn’t look anything like the prairie blue belll pictures online .

That is one version of Easter Egger. They can come in many different colors, with the only consistent thing being that they are supposed to have the gene for blue eggs.

Hoover's does say "Plumage color varies considerably among individuals, so you can count on having a great variety of beautiful color patterns."
https://hoovershatchery.com/prairiebluebellegger.html

It just baffles me that he has no wattle as all.

I am pretty sure that is just caused by the pea comb gene.
If you look at pictures of Buckeye or Yokohama roosters, they have almost no wattles, because of the pea comb gene.

I called many places to see if they would take him.. if he is a rooster … and no one wants a rooster.

I’m not allowed to have him … so if he is a rooster I’m going to sadly have to find somewhere that will take him.

Any suggestions?

You can post a thread on backyard chickens.

There is a buy-sell-trade section:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/#buy-sell-trade.67

There is also a section with location-specific threads:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/where-am-i-where-are-you.26/
In this section, there should be one thread for each US state, and some for other countries.
I frequently see suggestions to post roosters in those threads, because they are read by people who are relatively close to you.

I've also seen suggestions to post a rooster on craigslist, or maybe put something on a bulletin board at your local feed store.

Butchering & eating the chicken can also be a possibility. It is one of those things that people tend to feel strongly about, either for or against, so I don't know whether you would consider it or not.