Help - Is this a rooster?

[MamaGina]

This is my first time raising chickens. I have two that started crowing this week (at about 4 1/2 months of age). The other four are significantly smaller and have different markings on their faces. Nobody is laying eggs yet, and I'm reading that sometimes hens crow if there's no rooster in the flock. Anyway, here are a few pictures I managed to get of "Candace", who sort of struts around and bosses the others around. I'm not sure if the other one is just crowing because Candace is or if s/he is a rooster too. One or both will likely be dinner soon if they don't pipe down (I live in the city limits), so I'd like to be sure.

I don't even know what to take a picture of, so if these are worthless I apologize...

Thanks for your help!

 

[sfw2]

At that age, you should be able to tell. Full body shots would be great, along with a good view of the neck and tail feathers. They appear to have pea combs. Can you see how many rows of "peas"? If it's one, it should be a hen. If it's three, it's a roo.

 

[MamaGina]

Here are a few more pictures. The brown one is the other suspect.

 

[sfw2]

I'm going to say that the brown one and the mottled-looking one are both roos. I'm seeing saddle feathers, lots of green in the tail, and the solid color on the wings. Are the neck feathers as pointy as they look? All signs of roos. Sorry!

 

[cafarmgirl]

I'm going to say that the brown one and the mottled-looking one are both roos. I'm seeing saddle feathers, lots of green in the tail, and the solid color on the wings. Are the neck feathers as pointy as they look? All signs of roos. Sorry!

x2

 

[MamaGina]

Yes, they both have that iridescent green in their tails and pointy neck feathers. And 3 rows of peas in the comb. And crowing. That's some pretty strong evidence, I suppose! Thank you very much for responding!

 

[donrae]

The whole "hens crow if there's no rooster" thing misleads a lot of folks. That does happen, but it's pretty rare and young pullets don't do it. It's usually hens over a year that start trying to crow.
You have two handsome easter egger cockerels.

 

[MamaGina]

Thank you for the info, Rachel. They ARE handsome, aren't they? We will be sad to see them go. Now I get to go have an unpleasant conversation with my 5-year-old...

 

[donrae]

Kids are a lot more resiliant than we think. It still sucks, but they get over it pretty fast in my experience.