Help sexing 4mo Polish pullet/roo

[Choook]

Hello! I am hoping there is a Polish expert on here who could help me sex my 18 week old Polish supposed "pullet". After reading through several posts on the forums, I am getting increasingly convinced s/he is probably a rooster, but since there are no roos allowed where I live, if I return him/her to the breeder it will likely be a death sentence, so I want to be reeeeeally sure before I take that step. (Also, the breeder is over an hour away, so I'm not too keen to go back there just for her advice either.) Also, since we're well into Autumn here now, I don't think there will be any laying now to help tip me off until next Spring.

Positives - no comb, no wattle, no crowing, no mounting of other hens (that I've seen anyway), legs don't look particularly thick compared to the other hens.

Negatives - not top of the pecking order yet, but trying to get there! top puff looks 'spiky' rather than 'puffy' (but I don't have any other Polish to compare to and I don't know if this is a definite for all Polish anyway or if it depends on the type - I'm guessing mine is a 'splash' but it could be a mix), hackles look kinda pointy to me (but I looked at all my other pullets and several of them looked like they had pointy hackles too, so I'm not yet a very good judge of this), and I don't know at what age sickle feathers start to come in?

I'm attaching several photos below and would appreciate your thoughts - if you see any definite markers for a roo, then I'm afraid he's done for; but if there's any small window of hope she's a hen, I'll keep feeding her until I know for sure.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[drumstick diva]

Yorkshire Coop has polish. I think she will notice your post sooner or later. She is in UK so I don't know how their time varies from USA.

 

[Choook]

Bump - anyone who can help?

 

[dolly85]

Rooster. They can sometimes take a while to crow. Sorry!

 

[Choook]

Thanks dolly85, I appreciate it!

 

[DancingWthDucks]

Rooster ...... Maybe you could have a look at no-crow collars or try to rehome him via Craigslist or the Rehoming section on BYC...

 

[theoldchick]

Here is a googled photo of a Polish cockerel. Yours does look like this but I'd give yours a few more weeks to prove itself.

 

[Choook]

Many thanks for your replies!

Dancing - roosters are illegal where I live, but I didn't know there was a rehoming forum so I will definitely try there first as I hate taking him back knowing he's for the chopping block - he's a delightful chook.

Theoldchick - the photo is very helpful - most of the pics I was able to find had roosters with red combs and/or wattles (the lack of which was causing me some last hope) but it looks like the cockerel in your photo doesn't have much by way of wattle either (although it does seem to have the red comb).

We're another week along (almost 5 months old now), and s/he still hasn't developed any new roo characteristics except for the spiky hair, but it looks like that must be a definite marker in this breed.

 

[Choook]

UPDATE
Just realised I forgot to come back and finish off this post - better late than never I hope.
So, yes, my Polish unfortunately turned out to be a rooster, and started crowing at about 6 months old. Then - even worse - one of my other 'hens' which had obviously been kept subdued by the first rooster, turned all his rooster traits back on as soon as the first one left, and we had another one crowing 3 weeks later, ha.
Thanks again for all your advice!