What gender is my Rhode Island Red??

[Alnoodle]

New to chicken. This one is 5ish months, smaller and more timid than my roosters... Also a smaller comb... I fear it might be a late bloomer! Hen or rooster?????

 

[QueenMisha]

That is a 5 month old bird? That's very small for 5 months. If it really is 5 months it's a pullet, but it looks a LOT like a 10-12 week old cockerel.

 

[Alnoodle]

My others have huge combs.... Same age. Not for sure on ages, but around 5 months? All the others have green feathers and big combs

 

[QueenMisha]

When did you get them? Is it possible you were told the wrong age? Those really don't have the look of a 5 month old. At five months roosters should be crowing, mounting, have full tails and saddles, and hens should be almost fully mature and getting themselves ready to lay. These still have the gawky teenager legs and heads.

 

[Alnoodle]

I got them in February or March. They are just starting to crow... But with so many roosters... It's hard to tell which are starting.

 

[Alnoodle]

I got them March 13. Here is what they looked like at that point.....

 

[QueenMisha]

The chicks in that photo are about 2 weeks of age. That makes them around 3.5 months right now. In which case yes, that one is a cockerel as well.

 

[Alnoodle]

So maybe 4 months???? But my others are getting tail feathers and green on the neck too. This one looks different from the others....

 

[Alnoodle]

Thanks.... So why are the others so much bigger with big combs and green?

 

[donrae]

Yep, that's a cockerel.

They look different cause they all mature at different rates. Your bird is an adolescent. Walk down the hall of any middle school and you'll see some boys that look almost like grown men, and some boys that still look like little kids. Same thing here.

If they're all males, that's pretty suspicious. Makes me wonder if someone sold off their packing peanuts