I have ANOTHER androgenous chicken😅

[MommyGirl]

I do think that Ameraucanas and EE are more hawk looking and have more questionable feathers while growing in and do seem to have a more upright stance. Most of mine have anyway! But I have always had more comb development In roosters at an earlier age that I could identify as male. So that’s why I say she a pullet! But this is very interesting

 

[ShrekDawg]

The thin/frayed feathers look that way because they are new feathers growing in. I've never seen a female chicken have such strange-looking feathers, but can't currently prove anything one way or another, and see that so far, thoughts are still unanimous for pullet. I will keep taking pictures, but won't try to convince anyone for a while. Unless she begins to lay, and then I will be convinced, and will confirm the pullet voters were correct!

Ohhhh okay but still. And yeah good idea

 

[LuciferRoo]

I will go with looks,100% female to me.....but I am new to the chicken thing so my opinion is not worth much.
I even have a young chicken that is questionable to me. In person I lean towards "it's a girl" but when I look at photos I see a cockerel.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I do think that Ameraucanas and EE are more hawk looking and have more questionable feathers while growing in and do seem to have a more upright stance. Most of mine have anyway! But I have always had more comb development In roosters at an earlier age that I could identify as male. So that’s why I say she a pullet! But this is very interesting

My EE cockerels mature early, and I've almost always been able to tell by 5 weeks of age, often earlier. At that age, there was no question in my mind that Sonnet was a pullet. But at age 15 weeks, Sonnet's overall appearance and posture, despite obvious pullet traits, had me perplexed. I then researched and read that purebred Ameraucana cockerels are generally late maturing. And so at age 16 weeks, I sheepishly admit that I concluded that Sonnet must be a late-maturing cockerel, and that I had made a mistake. I literally had the thought to put her in a separate pen with the cockerels, until realizing that due to a lack of cockerel behaviors, she couldn't be. I can't wrap my mind around the fact she is fully female, especially with male-like feathers now growing in, but quite a lot of very experienced people have said they think she is. So I will let the issue go for now and see what transpires. I truly would much rather her lay pretty eggs that I can hatch future chicks from, than see her have future difficulties from roosters that potentially view her masculine appearance as a threat. Time will tell.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I will go with looks,100% female to me.....but I am new to the chicken thing so my opinion is not worth much.
I even have a young chicken that is questionable to me. In person I lean towards "it's a girl" but when I look at photos I see a cockerel.

New or not; your opinion is welcome.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Sonnet will be one year old in a couple of weeks (hatched July 13, 2023), so I thought I would post some photo updates while "she" is technically still a "pullet".

First of all, I was very surprised when her comb began to grow much larger back in February when she turned 7 months old. Although she had masculine traits such as an extremely upright natural stance and walk, was much larger than all the other females and larger than all but one of the males hatched last year, and had very odd and unusual saddle and tail feathers, I had fully expected her comb to stay a small pea comb. It did not.
February 2024

I didn't take any photos of her between February and June, due to near constant flooding rains (and I've had some health issues). But I was compelled to get more photos of her recently, not only to show her current comb appearance, but also because she is now growing a spur on her left shank. (Nothing on the right yet.)
All photos below taken June 2024

In the photo above, notice that most of her hackle feathers are rounded, but others are narrow with pointed tips.

Photo below shows the spur growth on her left shank. Though it is still small, it is only slightly smaller than her male hatchmate currently living with her flock. I expect it to eventually grow to be a large spur.

More photos showing her extremely upright stance, long neck, large comb and extra large size compared to other hens and pullets hatched last year.

Here is a photo of Sonnet standing next to her cockerel hatchmate. She is taller and heavier in body mass than he is. He is an average sized male EE. In addition, Sonnet is taller in height and larger in body mass than all but one of the males hatched last year.

I didn't focus on her saddle feathers since they haven't changed since photos posted previously. It remains to be seen if she molts this fall. If she does, I will post any changes to her feathers after they grow back in.

As far as her behaviors, I remarked earlier in this thread that I would be curious to see Sonnet's future behaviors, i.e. if she demonstrates behaviors both male and female. When her flock first began to free-range earlier this spring, I soon noticed that her female flockmates immediately ran out to scratch in the leaves for bugs. While the other pullets spent hours scratching in the leaves, never once did I see Sonnet join them. And now that the grasshoppers are coming out, the other hens and pullets delight in hunting for them in the tall grass, but Sonnet continues to show no interest. Each morning when I let them out for the day, Sonnet immediately runs out with the flock to peck some green grass, but then soon leaves while the other females remain to bug-hunt. Sonnet readily joins the others when they dust-bathe, but otherwise mostly prefers to keep to herself. When I began offering her flock cracked corn during the winter months, the other pullets chased Sonnet away. At first she always retreated, but now has learned to stand her ground. With hot summer weather now here, I bring her flock fresh veggies nearly daily, and Sonnet always insists on getting her fair share.

I have never once seen Sonnet in a nest box, and feel fairly sure she doesn't lay. I have checked her vent a couple of times when she was on the roost at dusk. (She didn't apreciate it.) Her vent appearance is somewhat interesting in the fact that while not as moist and flexible as a laying hen's, neither is it as small and tight as a rooster's vent. While intersex birds are rare, intersex birds that lay eggs are even more rare. Alas, I don't think Sonnet lays.

When I added her cockerel hatchmate to her flock earlier this spring, Sonnet was the first pullet to challenge him. However, she soon retreated, and they have had no scuffles since. I have never seen the cockerel mate with her, but neither does he treat her as a threat. However, I have seen her perform a very interesting behavior several times. When the cockerel mates with a pullet, Sonnet immediately runs over and stands tall directly in front of the pullet, while simultaneously lowering her head to make close eye contact with the pullet on the ground. While I've in the past occasionally seen pullets take interest in another pullet "smushed" on the ground, I've only witnessed junior cockerels exhibit the same exact stance and behavior that Sonnet displays.

When I began this thread, it was because by the time Sonnet reached age 15 weeks, she had traits that were unlike the other pullets hatched last year, nor like any other EE pullets my broodies have hatched over the past ten years. I don't know if this most recent update will cause those who previously thought she was fully female to change their minds. Either way, it isn't possible to determine her genetic makeup without chromosome typing, and no way to know if her gonads contain both ovarian and testicular tissues without a scientifically-performed microscopic necropsy. But I do know that photos of other chickens with questionable Phenotypes appear on BYC several times each and every year. I've contacted several OPs of those threads after the fact, but so far received no responses due to the OP no longer being active, or the OP responded by saying they no longer had the chicken/it had since died. I will keep updating any future changes that take place with Sonnet. But if anyone sees future pictures posted on BYC of a bird that could possibly be intersex or a gynandromorph, please please tag me! I'm still hoping to be given permission by a BYC member(s) who have photos possibly depicting the above examples for an article to enter into a BYC writing contest. But even more, I find the subject utterly fascinating, due to the unique appearances and behaviors that these birds exhibit!