Help.... Runt? Dwarfism? Failure to Thrive?

[Paz]

You have a current picture?

I do

 

[Tonyroo]

I do

That bird looks like a hen but at the same time it looks like a cockerel. The feather texture seems female yet the stance and color difference on the wings and body looks male. To me it looks like a hermaphrodite chicken.

 

[Tonyroo]

6 months is the average for most pullets to lay so it should be an interesting discovery as it gets older.

 

[NatJ]

They are all 10 weeks old from same batch hatch. My other 3 cockerels have burgundy bands on there wings and tail formation.
The little one's head is also small compared to one of the sister sitting next to him.

That bird looks like a hen but at the same time it looks like a cockerel. The feather texture seems female yet the stance and color difference on the wings and body looks male. To me it looks like a hermaphrodite chicken.

So you think your runt (age 10 weeks) is a hermaphrodite, and you think another poster has a hermaphrodite.

What do you mean by a "hermaphrodite" chicken? I would expect it to mean a chicken that is neither properly male, nor properly female, and the condition is permanent (doesn't change with maturity or in later years). But for the chickens in question, I think they are just immature (not fully grown up.)

Young chicks have plenty of traits that are also found in adult hens (like rounded feathers, rather than pointed saddle feathers, and a lack of male-specific coloring.) So I would not consider any chicken a hermaphrodite until it's quite a lot older, well past the point when normal females start laying eggs (maybe 8 months minimum, and over a year for breeds that are known to mature slowly.) Earlier than that, I think "slow to mature" is a MUCH more likely explanation.

 

[Paz]

So you think your runt (age 10 weeks) is a hermaphrodite, and you think another poster has a hermaphrodite.

What do you mean by a "hermaphrodite" chicken? I would expect it to mean a chicken that is neither properly male, nor properly female, and the condition is permanent (doesn't change with maturity or in later years). But for the chickens in question, I think they are just immature (not fully grown up.)

Young chicks have plenty of traits that are also found in adult hens (like rounded feathers, rather than pointed saddle feathers, and a lack of male-specific coloring.) So I would not consider any chicken a hermaphrodite until it's Quito’s y a lot older, well past the point when normal females start laying eggs (maybe 8 months minimum, and over a year for breeds that are known to mature slowly.) Earlier than that, I think "slow to mature" is a MUCH more likely explanation.

So it’s a cock? Or am I just destined to wait?

 

[Tonyroo]

Androgynous would probably be more appropriate as a description.
All the chicks that were born with the dwarf clearly have distinguished marking that clearer states there sex except for him.

 

[NatJ]

So it’s a cock? Or am I just destined to wait?

If it has long, slender feathers growing on the back (saddle feathers), then it's a male.
Otherwise, you're stuck waiting longer to see which way it goes.

I can't see the feather shape clearly enough to tell in the photo.

 

[NatJ]

Androgynous would probably be more appropriate as a description.
All the chicks that were born with the dwarf clearly have distinguished marking that clearer states there sex except for him.

It's pretty common to have 10 week old chicks that do not clearly show gender, but later grow up to be completely normal roosters or hens.

So other than being smaller than the rest, yours still looks normal to me. I'm inclined to think yours is a slower-maturing cockerel, but I can't (yet) rule out fast-maturing pullet.

 

[Paz]

It's pretty common to have 10 week old chicks that do not clearly show gender, but later grow up to be completely normal roosters or hens.

So other than being smaller than the rest, yours still looks normal to me. I'm inclined to think yours is a slower-maturing cockerel, but I can't (yet) rule out fast-maturing pullet.

Mine is 18 weeks old
Now tell me!!!
I NEED the answer.
It’s about the size of my probable cock, Jupiter. And is a Rhode Island Red.
First picture is the sexless chicken. Second is Jupiter is front and sexless behind. Next to them is Ruhama, who I think is a girl but have no idea.

 

[Pekin Duck Lover]

I hate to say that I have no clue, but your babies are adorable!!