Need help identifying this breed

[JadeFarms]

*sigh* fine, here's an excerpt from poultry.extension.org (emphasis mine):

"How does spontaneous sex reversal occur? Typically, a female chicken has only one functional ovary, the left one. The right ovary and oviduct are present in the embryonic stages of all birds but usually do not develop in chickens. Most cases of spontaneous sex reversal result from a disease condition that damages the left ovary. This condition could be an ovarian cyst or tumor or diseased adrenal glands, which cause the left ovary to regress. Residual tissue in the right ovary develops in the absence of the functional left ovary. This regenerated right gonad is known as an ovotestis and may contain some tissue characteristics of the ovary, the testes, or both. Steroidogenically functional, an ovotestis secretes androgen as well as estrogen. As a result, the hen develops male secondary sex characteristics. So, although the bird is genotypically female, it is phenotypically male. (Genotype refers to the actual traits coded for in paired genes; phenotype refers to the observable expression of those traits.)"

It’s extremely rare for that to happen, I highly doubt that it’s the case with the OPs bird.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

It’s extremely rare for that to happen, I highly doubt that it’s the case with the OPs bird.

Still not impossible. It's gotta happen to someone.

But from my understanding (which could wrong.) hens with the damaged overys which cause this change in appearance don't lay eggs. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[AusHen]

No, not with a damaged or underdeveloped oviary. Plus hormones would make the idea of them laying eggs almost impossible

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

It’s extremely rare for that to happen, I highly doubt that it’s the case with the OPs bird.

Doubt is fine, but dismissal is not. I'm simply trying to point out that we cannot be sure in this case based on what we have to go on (pictures).

Still not impossible. It's gotta happen to someone.

But from my understanding (which could wrong.) hens with the damaged overys which cause this change in appearance don't lay eggs. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Generally, they do not, just as generally they are sterile. However, there are outliers even for this, as some go even so far as to produce semen.

The issue is that with any kind of hormonal problem, the amount of deviation from the norm varies. Just like in any other animal. Take humans for instance--there are women that produce more testosterone that other women, so they look more masculine; there are men that produce more estrogen, so they look more feminine; these run from just a little more than normal all the way to those that look like the opposite sex entirely.

To me, it seems that if this bird is female, they have a hormonal issue that is causing them to have masculine features. This may be why the vet said they would lay later than normal. This is all speculation on my part, but I feel it is necessary to point this out since so many seem absolutely convinced that there is no way that a bird that appears in some aspects to male could possibly be female. And that is simply untrue.

 

[Trisseh]

I concur it would be good to check pelvic bones and wait and see. There are suspicious looking feathers coming in but it’s so hard to tell from pictures. Especially on an unknown for sure mixed breed bird that’s feathering in so poorly/slowly! You’re making leaps and bounds with that though, so great job on improving the plane of nutrition!

my 2 cents is only that there is absolutely no way a vet can say 100%, without a doubt, that this bird is one gender or the other, without either confirmed DNA testing, or having X-rayed and found an egg. Or if the OP physically saw the egg come out of this bird! Haha.
You cannot vent sex a chicken that’s older than a day or 2. Waterfowl, yes. Quail, at a certain point, yes. But I would definitely not trust any vet that gives a 100% answer on something like this without anything to really back it up.
(Saying this because I work for a vet, who most definitely wouldn’t say such a thing!)

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Doubt is fine, but dismissal is not. I'm simply trying to point out that we cannot be sure in this case based on what we have to go on (pictures).

Agreed. I see a lot of shiny feathers, but none that are definitely pointed. Though this bird looks like a cockerel, I don’t see anything that says it is with absolute certainty.

 

[tripletfeb]

Because girls do not grow saddle feathers.

I'm remembering another thread where lots of you were so positive the OP had a hen and it turned out to be a rooster with henny feathering. So, again, I'm just sayin...

 

[Painted Calls]

I'm remembering another thread where lots of you were so positive the OP had a hen and it turned out to be a rooster with henny feathering. So, again, I'm just sayin...

That whole thread was like a dumpster fire.

 

[Trisseh]

That whole thread was like a dumpster fire.

There’s been a lot of those lately. Not just about sexing birds either.

I like to see these oddball birds, even though it’s frustrating until there’s a confirmed verdict on them. Because otherwise, how often would the rest of us get to experience the oddities? I sure don’t hatch enough to get the ratio you’d need for the rarer occurrences. Lol.

 

[tripletfeb]

That whole thread was like a dumpster fire.

Oh, I agree completely. It was like a car accident, you want to but you can't look away! Just out of curiousity, what do you think the OP's bird is, cockerel or pullet?