We had the family over for Easter and of course we showed everyone our chickens. My brother (the one who got a dozen chickens the same week we got ours) commented on Helen's comb and said his Partridge Rocks don't have those. His suggestion that we might have a rooster just burst my little chicken bubble, and I told him he was a liar and that our sweet Helen is perfectly normal - and female! - thank you very much. Here she is:
I've become a little bit obsessed with trying to figure out if we have a roo in our group. Mainly I'm just curious, because these chickens are so interesting and there's so much to learn about them. But I'm also worried, because if we actually do have a roo, we have to get rid of him! The city has rules about keeping backyard chickens, and roosters are too noisy to live in town. I don't want to get rid of sweet Mr. Helen!
We've done some research and we're having a hard time finding a definitive way to sex a 4- or 5-week-old chicken. Everyone online has his or her own opinion about chicken development, and some of the information is contradictory. For example, if a chicken's comb is more pinkish, then you probably have a roo, and if it's more yellow, then you probably have a pullet. Helen's is a color sort of in between yellow and pink.
The comb of a healthy chicken, whether it's male or female, is bright red. And a pink or red comb is often a sign that the hen is ready to start laying eggs. So if Helen's comb turns pinker, it might mean she's actually a he, or it might mean she's developed enough that she can start laying soon. This is all very unhelpful, so we have no idea what to expect. We do know that when a Partridge Rock chicken is fully grown, the hens and roosters both have large single combs.
I've also read online that roos stand up taller than pullets (which Helen is demonstrating in the second picture in this post) and that they have thicker legs and longer toes than pullets (check out Helen's big legs in the third picture). Despite everything I've seen online, I refuse to believe Helen is a roo. Partridge Rocks are supposed to have big combs, so I think mine is perfectly normal and my brother's are just late bloomers.
Either way, it's my brother's fault.
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