Is my 9 week old chicken actually a rooster?

[Chicken-President]

Hi all, I have been wondering whether my Black Australorp hen is actually a rooster... She's the lead hen among all my chickens but looking at her I am thinking she might be a him? What's the best way to find this out?

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

That is a hen. She has thin legs and rounded feathers, which are traits of a female.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

If she was a rooster, she would have pointed feathers, thick legs, and she would be crowing and mating.

 

[Dizzybeth]

How old is she/he? A Black Australorp rooster will usually have a longer tail and saddle feathers.it looks like a hen to me

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

How old is she/he? A Black Australorp rooster will usually have a longer tail and saddle feathers.it looks like a hen to me

A pullet only turns into a hen once she reaches one year old, so I can assume this chicken is either one year old or older than that. Either way, she would still be a female. Long tails are not a male-specific trait, you are thinking about the sickle feathers that males have. But not all sickle feathers make a male's tail look long (think of Cochins, for example, with their round and short tail). And all chickens have saddle feathers, whether they are male or female, so that is not sex-specific.

 

[sourland]

9 weeks old? 100% a cockerel. Pointed male specific hackle and saddle feathers are just starting to appear.

 

[AinaWGSD]

That is a suspiciously large and red comb for 9 weeks, especially compared to [what I'm assuming] the same age bird in the background. And in the last two pictures it looks like there may be some pointy saddle feathers, although it could also just be the angle.

I wouldn't feel 100% confident that's a cockerel from these 3 pictures alone, but I'd be more surprised than not if it turned out to be a pullet.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

9 weeks old? 100% a cockerel. Pointed male specific hackle and saddle feathers are just starting to appear.

Where are you seeing nine weeks old? I see that no where.

 

[sourland]

Where are you seeing nine weeks old? I see that no where.

In the thread title.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

In the thread title.

Oh, I must have missed that. The poster said "hen" in the post, I am so confused. How old is your bird actually? Because those are two very different things.