Surprised by late-blooming rooster(!?) 2 yr old Jaerhon

[juniperz]

You should have seen my mouth drop when I looked at my two 2 year, 3 month old Norwegian Jaerhons the other day and realized that one had a giant comb and wattle. These two chickens were identical nearly the entire time I've had them! I finally got plastic bands to put around their feet early in 2022 because I couldn't tell them apart all that time! Am I insane, or has one grown a rooster comb within the past few months??

Unfortunately I don't have many photos of them - they've always been fearful and avoided me as much as they can, even when I'm tossing treats out. Here are two photos from March 2nd of this year. (They were 1 year, 10 months old.) The one in question is on the right.



Here are two photos from last week. The one in question is (obviously) on the left.



I've never had a rooster develop so late. I don't see any pointy saddle feathers, obviously no fancy tail feathers, maybe his neck is a little fuller than the hen. He doesn't crow. Is this normal?

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

Have you ever gotten two dark Marans egg in a day? Mine are like the one, but no huge comb or wattle.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

She's just a hen with larger comb and wattles. This is an autosexing breed where the males and females look quite distinct their whole lives. Jaerhon males look almost primarily white while the females have more of a golden-brown look like your girls. You can see the difference in the pictures on this BYC page about them: https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/norwegian-jaerhon.11523/

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

I misspoke, They look just like the Golden Cooku Marans I have other than the tails aren't so long. My Marans are my profile pic.
Your birds are beautiful!

 

[Painted Calls]

She's a hen.

 

[juniperz]

She's just a hen with larger comb and wattles. This is an autosexing breed where the males and females look quite distinct their whole lives. Jaerhon males look almost primarily white while the females have more of a golden-brown look like your girls. You can see the difference in the pictures on this BYC page about them: https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/norwegian-jaerhon.11523/

Thank you! You're right, looking at the chick pictures on that page, both of them had the brown coloring of the female.

I misspoke, They look just like the Golden Cooku Marans I have other than the tails aren't so long. My Marans are my profile pic.
Your birds are beautiful!

Yes, the coloring is very similar. Your girls are quite pretty.

She's a hen.

Thank goodness!

So the only question remaining is why has this one's comb and wattle gotten so big so recently? Any ideas?

 

[Painted Calls]

Thank you! You're right, looking at the chick pictures on that page, both of them had the brown coloring of the female.


Yes, the coloring is very similar. Your girls are quite pretty.


Thank goodness!

So the only question remaining is why has this one's comb and wattle gotten so big so recently? Any ideas?

Could be due to hormones. That would be my guess.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Some hens just have larger combs. Could be genetics, could be hormonal, could be a lot of things. It's possible, if you don't pay much attention to them, that it's even that the one's comb has actually shrunk as she's preparing to molt and that's why the other's looks so much bigger all of the sudden.

 

[juniperz]

Interesting! Thank you for your insights!