Worried I Might Have a Roo... Any suggestions before he crows?

[anbhean]

Hi! I'm brand new to this forum and to backyard hens, so please let me know if I posted this in the wrong place. I have three "hens" right now, two Barred Rocks and one Delaware. My concern is because my town is run by some real small minded, totalitarian dictators who equivocate hens to demonic forces from hell (yeah sadly NOT joking or exaggerating on that) I am only allowed to legally have 1.5 hens (and hens only) in my backyard. Not sure how they think I was gonna pull off the .5 of a hen but I figured, their stupid rules-- they can round up. Long story short, I'm at least one hen over and now I am concerned the Delaware is a roo. If he crows I'm done for, but it seems like the only advice I can get as for telling if he is a roo or not is "wait till he crows".

Anyone know any visual clues that might tell me he's a roo before he crows?

Pretty much he's older, but skinnier than the other two. He does not "strut" noticibly yet and for some odd reason, despite being 12 weeks, all of their combs and waddles are just now starting to pink up and sprout. The one thing I do notice is he has really long spear shaped neck feathers that he fluffs up a LOT and is slightly more aggressive than the other two who are Barred Rocks. Most the Delaware roos I see online have longer neck feathers than the hens. Are these feathers a good indication of his gender? Any info would be really helpful!

Thanks!

 

[NoseyChickens]

Post a picture, there will be people on here that can tell you from looking. ALso if its comb and waddles are red before 16018 weeks of age, it's most likely a boy

 

[Thomas423]

Is the 1.5 intended to be per person?
A pic of the suspected roo would be helpful.

 

[heatherindeskies]

Quote:
roosters have those spurs on the legs; I do not know what age they start developing them.
to my knowledge, most breeds have the roosters with longer tails that curve downward, where most hen tails stick up.
and of course the larger red...wattles I believe the name would be along with a larger comb.
still, i'm sure it is hard to tell at a young age though. picture??

 

[embkm]

A roo wont get the spurs until much later, so that won't help you. If he's 12 weeks already and has't crowed yet, either he's a she OR you are lucky he's a quiet guy. My Deleware cockerals had RED combs and wattles by the time they were 4-6 weeks old. A cockeral will also be developing the pointy hackle and saddle feathers (on the neck and near the tail). A picture would be really helpful if you want our opinions.

BTW--- How does someone only have 1.5 chickens????

 

[roverjohn]

Quote:
God, I hope that's a typo.

 

[Murphys2009]

Quote:
God, I hope that's a typo.

LOL I think it is!

 

[cybercat]

If they are 12 weeks and their combs are just growing and starting to get pick you have all hens. Males combs start to be bigger and redder at 4 weeks. You would know real well by 12 weeks if you had a male.

 

[anbhean]

Thanks everyone! Sorry about the pic, wasn't sure if I could post one on this thread or not. Here he/she is!

This was taken at 10 weeks before they moved out to their coop and run(s). The comb is slightly pinker now, but not really red and only slightly bigger. No spurs that I've noticed, but then to be honest, I wasn't really looking. I will be now! I also haven't checked for saddle feathers being any longer than the rest. I'll definitely do that as well.

 

[HenPen]

Looks like a pretty girl to me...