Rooster or Mean Hen

[battagliac]

I have 20-week old chickens, and I'm beginning to think one could be a rooster? It doesn't have the long tail feathers yet, but it is contantly making this long low pitch throat sound---whoooooooooaaaaaaa! Could it be? It is constantly pecking the head of another hen (the bigger of the two) and sometimes really attacks it. It is constantly following it around pecking it. They are in a 20 x 8 ft wire run with a coop inside. Is this hen in danger do I have a rooster?? Its the one with the gold head in the picture (taken about 2 months ago) Thanks

 

[HEChicken]

Do you have pictures? I have hens who are very noisy when waiting to use the nest box - it is a very different sound than either the egg song or a crow. Perhaps you have a hen that is doing this?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

At 20 weeks, unless it's some weird breed, it will be very obvious that it is a roo.
Head pecking is a dominant move which roosters usually don't do. The dominant hen will sometimes learn to crow if no roo is present.

 

[battagliac]

Thanks for your two replies. I am in the process of posting some pictures to my profile. Hopefully your right and it is just a dominant hen.

 

[aoxa]

Sounds like a dominant hen. My girls make the same noises. My roosters do too, but it's like a growl.

My roosters NEVER peck my girls unless they are trying to mate them or grab on to them. They are so good to their girls.

ETA: I guess they do peck if they want to stop a fight. But that's it

 

[battagliac]

Thanks again for the info--these are our first chickens so we are learning from you all. I posted some pics, and my Avatar pic is the mean one. The abused hen was hiding in the coop so didn't get her picture.

 

[aoxa]

Thanks again for the info--these are our first chickens so we are learning from you all. I posted some pics, and my Avatar pic is the mean one.  The abused hen was hiding in the coop so didn't get her picture. 

That's a hen. Just trying to get to the top of the pecking order I assume