Hello to you all!
This is my first post here, so by way of a quick introduction: I live in Sydney, Australia, and I currently have four chickens. The boss is "Raven", a pure-bred Australorp; "Harriet", a Barnevelder; "Matilda", a White Leghorn; and "Rose", a Rhode Island Red.
We acquired Rose and Matilda in early January from a breeder, who estimated that Rose was about 30 weeks old, and Matilda 24 weeks. Matilda was laying immediately, but eight weeks later we still have nothing from Rose.
That would not normally be a big problem because it can take a while to start laying, and "she" is very skittish. But we have suspected all along that Rose might actually be a rooster.
Here she is, pecking away at some milk drops that came from their morning treat. I wrote up a bunch of observations about our "little" Rose in a blog post: Rooster, or Hen? if you want to read my extended thoughts on her characteristics and behaviour. There are a bunch more pictures there too.
After reading a lot of other similar questions here, I'm leaning towards the idea that Rose is actually a Rooster, mainly because she seems to have some saddle feathers, and a droopy cock's tail starting to grow in. She doesn't crow at all, and is a very skittish nervous creature. She also has a nice red wattle and comb, but isn't laying.
Can any of you confirm or deny my suspicion?
We aren't allowed to keep roosters in my council area, so I will need to take her back to the breeder and exchange her for a hen if she's a Roo, and we will be sad to part with her. :-/
Thanks
Jess
This is my first post here, so by way of a quick introduction: I live in Sydney, Australia, and I currently have four chickens. The boss is "Raven", a pure-bred Australorp; "Harriet", a Barnevelder; "Matilda", a White Leghorn; and "Rose", a Rhode Island Red.
We acquired Rose and Matilda in early January from a breeder, who estimated that Rose was about 30 weeks old, and Matilda 24 weeks. Matilda was laying immediately, but eight weeks later we still have nothing from Rose.
That would not normally be a big problem because it can take a while to start laying, and "she" is very skittish. But we have suspected all along that Rose might actually be a rooster.
Here she is, pecking away at some milk drops that came from their morning treat. I wrote up a bunch of observations about our "little" Rose in a blog post: Rooster, or Hen? if you want to read my extended thoughts on her characteristics and behaviour. There are a bunch more pictures there too.
After reading a lot of other similar questions here, I'm leaning towards the idea that Rose is actually a Rooster, mainly because she seems to have some saddle feathers, and a droopy cock's tail starting to grow in. She doesn't crow at all, and is a very skittish nervous creature. She also has a nice red wattle and comb, but isn't laying.
Can any of you confirm or deny my suspicion?
We aren't allowed to keep roosters in my council area, so I will need to take her back to the breeder and exchange her for a hen if she's a Roo, and we will be sad to part with her. :-/
Thanks
Jess
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