My Orpington "chicken" just started crowing!

[DownwardDog]

Meet Drop (black/blue Imported English Orpington). I got her as a roughly 5 mos old in September along with Ripple (blue hen at the water bowl) and Splash (who was eaten by a hawk). She just started crowing today, under our deck. I guess she is a he?!?!?! Ripple is a hen, right?

 

[ThePRfan]

From looks,yes.The bottom pic definitely looks like a hen.
Hens are known to crow,plus I ser know serious hackles feathers or sickle feathers.
And her combing,and wabbles arent big for a rooster,depending the age,how old is she?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Are you sure which bird was crowing? I ask because all but the last photo show a cockerel and it isn't really labeled as to who is who in those top photos.

 

[DownwardDog]

Are you sure which bird was crowing? I ask because all but the last photo show a cockerel and it isn't really labeled as to who is who in those top photos.

Yes, the last photo of the bird at the water bowl is Ripple, who is hopefully still a hen. The other pics are all of Drop, who I saw crowing today:-(

 

[ThePRfan]

Ripples a hen...

 

[DownwardDog]

Drop was born in the spring, though I didn't get him/her until September. I thought she/he was sick, or just really picked on as I was told she was the "runt." She was scrawny and her feathers were not fluffy like the other 2 Eng. Imported Orpingtons. Oddly, s/he was the only one who didn't mind being picked up Drop just started getting some good fluffy feathers last month. The shiny black feathers only just now are starting to look like rooster feathers:-(

Oh well, I can't keep him, so wish me luck in finding him a new home! Thanks for confirming, everyone!

 

[speckledhen]

The first three pics do show a cockerel. I raised Blue Orpingtons for years, still have one blue Orp hen who is almost 7 yrs old.


The male saddle feathers give it away every time.

BTW, why do you put quotations marks around the word "chicken" in your title? Just wondering. I know some people think roosters are not chickens (hens and roosters are chickens, that's the species) but I thought there might be another reason. He's definitely a chicken and definitely a cockerel.

The square shows the saddle feathers of a blue Orp rooster. Pointy, shiny, skinny and a big fringe of them mean male.

 

[ThePRfan]

I want some...

 

[bobbi-j]

Drop was born in the spring, though I didn't get him/her until September. I thought she/he was sick, or just really picked on as I was told she was the "runt." She was scrawny and her feathers were not fluffy like the other 2 Eng. Imported Orpingtons. Oddly, s/he was the only one who didn't mind being picked up Drop just started getting some good fluffy feathers last month. The shiny black feathers only just now are starting to look like rooster feathers:-(

Oh well, I can't keep him, so wish me luck in finding him a new home! Thanks for confirming, everyone!

I wish you were my neighbor - I'd be happy to take him off your hands! He's a pretty bird.

 

[DownwardDog]

He had shiny feathers all over from the beginning -- they looked greasy, like he was sick -- do all Orp roosters look like that from the beginning? The fluffy undercoat feathers just started coming in about a month ago or so. Now I'll know

How are these roosters temperaments, generally? I never wanted a rooster as our chickens free-range, and I never wanted my kids (7 and 10) to worry about being outside with them. The hens are their pets!