Below are two pictures of a pair of my Production Rhode Island Reds Ret and Scarlet. These birds were definitely not show quality, but you get the picture. On a side note, the pictures are grainy because these are not originals, rather scanned copies.
You can see the pointy saddle feather curving downwards at the base of Ret's tail in both pictures. Scarlet's tail which is quite clear in the second picture doesn't have that.
The pointy feathers in the neck region are the hackles which is where the expression "get your hackles up" came from. Roosters raise the pointy feathers on their neck when facing another rooster. Hens don't have pointy hackle feathers there's are much more rounded. You can see the hackles quite well in the first picture.
You can see the hackles of two Standard Black Sumatra roosters in this link.
http://home.att.net/~Myakka2/LgBlackSums.htm
Edited to say: Roosters also have sickle feathers, which are the curved feathers in their tails.
And the only roosters that are hen-feathered that I know of off the top of my head are the Sebrights. Meaning the males feathers appear just like a hens.
You can see the pointy saddle feather curving downwards at the base of Ret's tail in both pictures. Scarlet's tail which is quite clear in the second picture doesn't have that.
The pointy feathers in the neck region are the hackles which is where the expression "get your hackles up" came from. Roosters raise the pointy feathers on their neck when facing another rooster. Hens don't have pointy hackle feathers there's are much more rounded. You can see the hackles quite well in the first picture.
You can see the hackles of two Standard Black Sumatra roosters in this link.
http://home.att.net/~Myakka2/LgBlackSums.htm
Edited to say: Roosters also have sickle feathers, which are the curved feathers in their tails.
And the only roosters that are hen-feathered that I know of off the top of my head are the Sebrights. Meaning the males feathers appear just like a hens.
Last edited:
