Is my hen crowing?

[MrRaccoon]

We've got 6 backyard chickens, about 13 weeks old. Just now I heard some crowing coming from our coop. I thought we had all hens, but someone is sounding off out there. I've heard than hens can crow too, but I thought that it was pretty rare.

I want to double check and make sure that a Henrietta isn't actually a Henry. The only chicken that looks or acts remotely roostery is our Barred Rock:

Looks like a hen to me, but I want another opinion on that. It does have a substantially larger comb and wattle than the others.

 

[nuthatched]

That's a cockerel, sorry.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh! Henry!

 

[ChicNmom]

Henry.

Looks just like my surprise boy Rocky who is about the same age.

 

[Yardmom]

The bird pictured is dark like a barred rock pullet would be. A cockeral that is only half barred rock would also be dark (single barred). Your bird is likely a cockeral that is not pure barred rock.

 

[nuthatched]

The bird pictured is dark like a barred rock pullet would be. A cockeral that is only half barred rock would also be dark (single barred). Your bird is likely a cockeral that is not pure barred rock.

Could he be a male sex link?

 

[MrRaccoon]

Well shoot!

The good news is that we live in an unincorporated part of our county with no restrictions on chickens/roosters. So we might keep him. We'll ask around our neighbors though and see if he bothers anyone.

The bird pictured is dark like a barred rock pullet would be. A cockeral that is only half barred rock would also be dark (single barred). Your bird is likely a cockeral that is not pure barred rock.

I didn't know that was a thing. I knew about the sex coloring difference, and thought that was pretty infallible. That explains a lot.

 

[ChicNmom]

The bird pictured is dark like a barred rock pullet would be. A cockeral that is only half barred rock would also be dark (single barred). Your bird is likely a cockeral that is not pure barred rock.

I didn't know that was a thing. I knew about the sex coloring difference, and thought that was pretty infallible. That explains a lot.

I had also wondered how I ended up with a roo when they were supposed to be sex link. Especially with the white spot on the head.

I did a search and the males are lighter when feathered. They were identical in coloring early on.

 

[Golden Comet Mama]

Henry for sure