Is my olive egger a rooster or just a early maturing hen...?

[SnowyClucks]

Hi everyone, I have a little 4 week old olive egger here named Olive (creative name, I know) that I'm honestly unsure of the gender of. She (they???) is/are sexed but of course mistakes can happen and this little one sort of acts like a rooster. When she was younger at about 2 weeks she had noticeably longer primary feathers which was interesting. Although it's so confusing because she seems to have traits of both a rooster and a hen.

To this day she is:
- Top of the pecking order, very dominant, also the most brave and curious
- The largest chicken out of my 4
- Has very thick legs with quickly sprouting feathers on the feet
- The first to develop a comb
- The second to grow feathers (after my cream legbar, but still she feathered pretty quickly)
- Currently tail-less. All 3 of her flock mates have noticeable, cute tails while her butt is looking as bare as the Sahara desert...
- Tends to stand upright a lot and fights occasionally with the Cream Legbar (probs for dominance)
- Has little nubs on legs (although it is confusing bc my cream legbar pullet has them too) but I think olive's are bigger
- Loves to jump around, do the zooms in the brooder, climb on cardboard and hop on my back

I've attached some pictures below: (current)

and here are some photos are 2 weeks old:

Is it possible to tell if Olive is a rooster or not or is it too early? I've heard that I might need to wait more weeks to be sure...If she was a rooster I'd honestly prefer a confirmation of her gender so I can get her returned before I develop an emotional attachment to her. She walked over to me and sat in my lap this morning!
If I get confirmation from here then I suppose I'd contact the breeder I bought from to make sure she's a rooster. Then I'd also like to get a replacement pullet the same age so I can raise lap chickens while they're young. I know chickens can still be friendly when older but I'd prefer to take advantage of the window of time I have while they're young
Sorry for my yap I'm just really confused about this little chickie

 

[Altairsky]

I think he's a boy.

 

[JedJackson]

Most of the things you listed are not gender specific. Behavior is not a good indicator at that age.

But the raised comb at so early an age, the larger size and the thickness of the legs could mean you have a cockerel. I wouldn't say it is definite yet, though.

Keep watching the comb. If it continues to grow then it is probably a boy. Comparison is a good way to tell gender with young chickens.

 

[SnowyClucks]

Most of the things you listed are not gender specific. Behavior is not a good indicator at that age.

But the raised comb at so early an age, the larger size and the thickness of the legs could mean you have a cockerel. I wouldn't say it is definite yet, though.

Keep watching the comb. If it continues to grow then it is probably a boy. Comparison is a good way to tell gender with young chickens.

I guess when I researched "signs of a rooster" I didn't check what age they were referring to. Thanks for clearing that up!

 

[AinaWGSD]

Too young to tell yet. Like Jed mentioned, behavior at this age isn't a good indicator of gender. Chicks will spar for pecking order dominance regardless of gender.

The comb is a little big, but plenty of single combed pullets have combs that size (or sometimes bigger!) at that age. It's not even a little red yet, so that doesn't say cockerel to me.

How fast a chick feathers in doesn't give any clues to gender either unless they have been specifically bred for sex linked feathering. There are plenty of slow feathering pullets out there. My wyandotte hen was very slow to feather, she didn't have a tail for the first 5 months of her life!

All chickens can grow spurs, therefore all chicks will have spur buds. Cockerels won't develop spurs until they are several months old, usually long after other secondary sex characteristics are apparent. And it's not that uncommon for hens to grow (smaller) spurs either.

 

[debid]

I can understand the concern but I would not act on it. Especially since your little Olive doesn't have a single definite sign. There's really nothing to do but wait and see. If the comb is growing rather than just generously sized, that will be apparent shortly.

 

[RubelliteRose]

All of my EE/OE boys have had pink combs by 4 weeks, so there is still hope that Olive is a girl This is my group of chicks, one boy and 4 girls, from last year at a few days over 4 weeks old.

 

[debid]

... it's not that uncommon for hens to grow (smaller) spurs either.

My hens are at 50%, two with spurs and 2 without. Well, technically, one of the two has a single spur so she has spur rather than spurs. Sample size is too small to be significant but I find it amusing.

 

[FrostRanger]

I don't see any obvious signs of olive being a cockerel. Post more pictures in a few weeks