Rooster or Hen?

[ccoscina]

8 months. Those feathers are not very long because not long ago every single one of those feathers was getting picked off by the other birds. They nearly killed it and it was bleeding to death so I had it come live in my bedroom with me until it recovered. This chicken has had alot of genetic problems since it was a baby chicken and is extremely unusual in many ways. I consider it to be my special needs child. It doesn't fight back when attacked and I have never seen it peck another chicken even once. It's Speckles the Cowardly Rooster.

 

[NatJ]

8 months. Those feathers are not very long because not long ago every single one of those feathers was getting picked off by the other birds. They nearly killed it and it was bleeding to death so I had it come live in my bedroom with me until it recovered. This chicken has had alot of genetic problems since it was a baby chicken and is extremely unusual in many ways. I consider it to be my special needs child. It doesn't fight back when attacked and I have never seen it peck another chicken even once. It's Speckles the Cowardly Rooster.

At 8 months old, I'm leaning toward it being female, but I'm not positive.

If it is a male, then it is developing VERY slowly.
Given what you say of its history, that is possible.

If you intend to just keep it as a pet, the gender may not matter much.
You could also try getting its DNA tested to check the gender.
Here's one company that can do that:
https://orders.iqbirdtesting.com/product/dna-bird-gender-testing-feather/
https://orders.iqbirdtesting.com/product/avian-dna-sexing-blood-eggshell/

 

[ccoscina]

At 8 months old, I'm leaning toward it being female, but I'm not positive.

If it is a male, then it is developing VERY slowly.
Given what you say of its history, that is possible.

If you intend to just keep it as a pet, the gender may not matter much.
You could also try getting its DNA tested to check the gender.
Here's one company that can do that:
https://orders.iqbirdtesting.com/product/dna-bird-gender-testing-feather/
https://orders.iqbirdtesting.com/product/avian-dna-sexing-blood-eggshell/

Yes it is a pet. They all are. I only killed one rooster (which I cooked up in a dish named Coq Au Vin) but that's because he was so violent I was worried it would kill my other chickens and I wouldn't feel right giving it away to anyone. That rooster was named Asshole. My other rooster, Favorite, I gave away to a no-kill rescue farm that shelters abandoned animals. Favorite was the best rooster that there ever was so he went to heaven at the rescue farm. Asshole went to hell down in my basement. I would've kept Favorite, I was sad I had to give him away, but my coop isn't legal. Because my coop is not legal I am at the mercy of my neighbors and I can't make too much noise. Speckles doesn't crow so that is very fortunate.

8 months is irrelevant with Speckles, you have no idea how genetically strange this thing is. It makes the strangest noises, does the strangest things, and is so cowardly. Speckles is a silly head. I love Speckles.

 

[NatJ]

8 months is irrelevant with Speckles

The age is still somewhat relevant.

If the bird were only 2 months old, I would think it's male.
If the bird were 2 years old, I would assume it was completely mature and would remain a mystery forever.

At 8 months, most males are obvious, and most females are laying eggs. But some males and some females are still confusing at that age, and become more clear later. So there is still a reasonable chance that Speckles may show their gender more clearly with time.

you have no idea how genetically strange this thing is. It makes the strangest noises, does the strangest things, and is so cowardly.

If Speckles is so cowardly, and has been so much picked on by the others, it might not be getting enough to eat. Lack of food could cause is to be weak, act cowardly, get picked on more, and not mature sexually.

If Speckles does get picked on, you may want to consider providing a separate pen for it to live next to the others, where it can eat and drink and do chicken things in peace. A few months of unlimited access to normal chicken food (chick starter or grower or flock raiser or something similar) might make a big difference to how obvious the gender is, and how healthy the chicken is. A wire dog crate inside the main chicken pen might be a possibility.

Here is one article about someone helping a chicken who had been bullied:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

 

[Painted Calls]

At 8 months, that's a pullet.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Here's a good resource. http://www.americanbuckeyepoultryclub.com/DetermineGender.html

 

[Painted Calls]

At 8 months I would say it is female. It has a weird tail but shows no other signs of it being a male of that age.

Agreed.

 

[ccoscina]

Yes I'm aware lack of access to food can prevent a chicken from maturing at a normal pace. I'm sure this is a factor here. For a long time Speckles struggled to get enough food but I didn't notice until it was around 6 months old. I knew it was being bullied a bit but didn't rescue it til the bullying became very extreme.

Speckles has come a long way since the rescue. After that I would hand feed it every day in morning or lunchtime and in early evening every day I shut the door to the coop with just Speckles in there and provide fresh food and fresh water. I still do these things and now it has been growing and gradually resembling a rooster.

Also to stop the bullying problem I have been punishing the severe offenders. If I noticed one of the girls repeatedly pecking Speckles then I would pick up Speckles, then hold the bully down with one hand and then place Speckles on top of that chicken with my other hand. Then I say "Speckles is my girl! You can't mess with my girl!" I have also been applying pick-no-more to Speckles regularly which gives off an odor that can help prevent pecking. By utilizing these strategies now Speckles doesn't get picked on as much. It's still the lowest on the peck order but doesn't get constantly attacked anymore.

A few weeks ago Speckles became courageous enough to begin drinking from the main waterer in the run on its own. Normally it would only drink from that waterer when i was right next to it, and if I'm in the run it used to always stand next to me for protection because I didn't let the other chickens bully it. This week Speckles has finally summoned up enough courage to eat from the main feeder, which it had never done til this week. Even when I would put Speckles right in front of the main feeder and stand behind it with my arms out it would still be too afraid and run back inside the coop due to fear. Then a couple weeks ago it would finally eat from the main feeder if I was with it. Now I see it eat from the main feeder on its own! I'm so proud of Speckles, that bird has really come a long way.

 

[NatJ]

Yes I'm aware lack of access to food can prevent a chicken from maturing at a normal pace. I'm sure this is a factor here.

now it has been growing and gradually resembling a rooster.

If you know what gender it probably is, and you know why it is late in maturing, then I'm not sure why you're asking for opinions on here

 

[ccoscina]

If you know what gender it probably is, and you know why it is late in maturing, then I'm not sure why you're asking for opinions on here

Because I'm looking for some reinforcement. It is my first time raising chickens so I'm not a hundred percent sure. But i think Speckles is a woosa. I hope it doesn't start crowing though or I'm gonna have to eat it. I cried when I ate Asshole and I didn't even like that rooster. I love Speckles so I hope it keeps quiet. Has never crowed yet.