im stumped.🤔 this chickens tail is really neat but i dont know if im crazy but is this the start of a rooster tail???

[embatten]

this chicken (Beth- 15 weeks old) has given me rooster vibes sine it was a itty bitty chick. i knew from the jump that this one was a hen but i just can’t understand why she/ he is not like the others! Beth has always been larger than the others (all the same age), weighted twice as much, feet have always been a lot bigger, grew a comb first and it turned red first (at like 5 weeks). i heard crowing coming from the coop (but told myself it was a chicken of my neighbors that must have escaped) was told by a few people early on that it looked like a rooster but asking on this page and a BYC group on facebook everyone seems to say it’s a hen. but since the last time i posted about Beth the tail feathers have started to look really different. they are starting to point down. I am not sure at all either way but does anyone know why Beth’s tail feathers are looking so different? could it be something wrong or a gene or what? just genuinely curious
*first 3 pics are today*
*tail pick was about 3 weeks ago when the tail started to turn green*
*baby pic cause Beth is sooo cute!!*

 

[nuthatched]

Pullet.
Any healthy black or brown bird with have a sheen to their feathers.

 

[ella2025]

I think hen honestly. Beth's tail does look a little long and curled, but her coloring looks right for a hen... I'm really not sure though. Right now at 15 weeks it's very normal for the comb to be big since it's almost laying age. However she did have a pretty large comb at a small age. However she has no wattles at 4-5 weeks (last photo) so it seems to be a hen.

 

[AinaWGSD]

-Comb and wattles are not big enough for a 15 week old cockerel
-saddle feathers are clearly rounded (at 15 weeks you should be seeing at least  some pointy saddle feathers)
-female color pattern

The tail feathers are just a little curly, that's all. It happens to a lot of pullets around this age.

 

[embatten]

thank you for

I think hen honestly. Beth's tail does look a little long and curled, but her coloring looks right for a hen... I'm really not sure though. Right now at 15 weeks it's very normal for the comb to be big since it's almost laying age. However she did have a pretty large comb at a small age. However she has no wattles at 4-5 weeks (last photo) so it seems to be a hen.

thank you so much for this explanation! this was kinda what i was looking for! out of curiosity, is it normal for the tail to “ swoop “ like that? (i haven’t seen any personally that do that)

 

[embatten]

-Comb and wattles are not big enough for a 15 week old cockerel
-saddle feathers are clearly rounded (at 15 weeks you should be seeing at least  some pointy saddle feathers)
-female color pattern

The tail feathers are just a little curly, that's all. It happens to a lot of pullets around this age.

okay! i had no idea the tail could curl for pullets!

 

[townchicks]

She's just a girly girl. I had a barred Plymouth rock whose tail feathers did the same thing. I think it's cute.

 

[ella2025]

Yep. Cockerels saddle feathers will start coming out now as very pointy, very long dagger like things near the tail. Hens will have round/not long saddle feathers. Also a cockerel has different coloring, often bright colors on the shoulders and saddles. Therefore Beth is a pullet

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

If you purchased that chick from the store or hatchery, and you know what the company called it, then that'll help with figuring out what you got.

However. Yours appears to be a "black sex link" pullet.
The males and females look NOTHING alike. They're discernable from hatch. The cockerels develop barring, the pullets do not.

I personally have taken care of a neighbor's black sex link hens (1-2 years old, all laying) All of them have the exact same coloring as yours (different amounts of red on each bird).
And one does have a very odd tail where the feathers are too long, similar to yours. Possibly two of them do.

I can't explain the crowing, except that it is possible for pullets/hens to crow. But it's possible you have a secret cockerel. Just not this bird.

*edits for typo correction

 

[embatten]

She's just a girly girl. I had a barred Plymouth rock whose tail feathers did the same thing. I think it's cute.

wow! i had no idea! this page is so informative