Okay, be honest…
Does this look like a rooster to you?
Here's the evidence:
Waddles and comb that appeared way earlier than anyone else.
A tail that is arched, not stubby and straight like all the other girls.
Feet that are far bigger than every one else's feet. For that matter, all of Rosemary is bigger than the other girls.
But she (a hopeful pronoun if ever there was one) is our favorite! She's funny and silly and more outgoing and friendly than the others.
We love her!
Once, about a week or so ago, in the wee hours, when I was still half asleep, I would have sworn that I heard some kind of creaky potential crowing noises. I perked up, but never heard it again.
So now we're waiting,
watching,
and hoping that we don't have to find a new home for our Rosemary.
Keep all your crossable parts crossed for us, will you?
{ 24 comments }
And she’s such a beauty too! Parts are crossed for you!
oh, rosemary! all things crossed.
Our good friends adopted a kitten and named him Cal after Cal Ripken Jr, the baseball player. A few weeks later they learned that Cal was actually Callie. I pretty much know nothing about roosters but I think I’d start thinking of alternate names, just in case. Maybe if she is a he you can give him to someone where you can visit?
It’s beautiful! Draw and paint her!
OK, I’ll be honest: I have no idea how to tell a rooster from a girl chicken (do girl chickens have names other than chickens?) except once they’re fully grown. I do know how to tell boy humans from girl humans and male mosquitos from female ones, if that helps. : )
Oh, no! A girlfriend of mine bought a few “hens” right around the same time you did, only to find a cocks comb a month later. They returned him to the farm and got another girl..only to find a cocks comb a month later. They returned HIM and bought another girl…and named her Fred…and so far, so good.
Haha…I was going to post a comment about “Fred” as well, but I guess Aunt LoLo (my twin) beat me to it! In the twenty years that farm has been in business, there have only been 4 mistaken genders and she got two of them! Good luck!
If we lived closer, I’d take Rosemary for you and you could visit! But West Virginia just wouldn’t do, would it? darn it! I’m sorry to say that SHE looks an awful lot like a HE.
I’ll cross all my parts just in case, anyway!
)
&&& crossing &&& all parts.
I’m in the ‘burbs’, and I had a rooster once. In all honesty, I did worry about him disturbing the neighbors. Fortunately, I never heard a complaint from anyone. I would venture to say that with noise from the central air units, coupled with all the noise from traffic, etc. a rooster really doesn’t cause that much of a disturbance. You’d have to have him really close to be bothered by it. Hoping you can keep your pet, whatever ‘it’ is.
Hey,
recently taken to reading (and relaying) your blog. I am here to give you a little hope…”She” looks like a Buff Orpington. I have one of the same. Don’t go totally by my word, but does look like mine did about that age. The others look like far smaller breeds of birds. Is the cream one an Araucana? Orps get to be pretty big. Ours has a great personality. If you would like a pic. email me.
That would explain why “she” was having such a hard time roosting!!
Last fall we took part in getting chicks out at my in-laws. Out of 24 chicks, 3 of them ended up being roosters. But when they were about the size of Rosemary, they began to get mean. So, if she’s still friendly, then maybe there’s hope… (oh, and my hubby said it doesn’t look like a rooster.) ?? *crossed***
Oh wow….xx xx fingers crossed, xx xx toes crossed that Rosemary is not a Rodney.
i was told by my chicken lady that roosters have pointed feathers at the base of their tails. hen feathers are rounded.
also, we have a girl that we named rooster, because we thought she was a he. she turned out to be one of our best layers…. we named her rooster before we found out about the pointed vs. rounded feathers. we had to exchange two boys for girls. my 3 y.o. still cries about them almost every nite. and we gave them back 6 mos. ago!
Like Paige, I also wonder if she’s a Buff…we had three (now two…watch them raccoons!) and I was soooo convinced that Mitzi was a he, but alas, a hen she be. (Her comb was so much larger than her fellow chicks from early on) They are large and, as you said, quite friendly! Sure hope you can keep her!
no. way.
come on, rosie, stay real to your name.
I have no idea, but I’m keeping things crossed for you!
she’s a beauty…fingers are crossed :0)
Hens cackle when they lay. Perhaps your son heard an early practice cackle? I think she looks like a respectable hen.
I have 5 chickens, and she looks like a buff orpington to me also. Buffs have bigger comb and super friendly and docile, and larger than other breeds that I know. I am betting she is a hen, she looks like my Buff Orpington (and Black Australop) when they were younger
Hi. I found my way here through Redneck Mother’s blog.
We had the same experience, down to the first weird crowing, with our backyard chicken Loretta. “She” is now living in the country, and will celebrate Father’s Day in June–in his new location.
His bachelorette sister, whom we kept, seems relieved. We bought her another hen for a roommate, and they get along great.
No spurs yet. That is a good sign.
when i was a teenager we lived in the inner-city of memphis. my parents had chickens, ducks, rabbits…and a rooster. every night i’d have to catch him, put him in a crate, put the crate in the garage, cover the crate with a blanket, cover the blanket with a thick rug and lock the garage door. that dern rooster would still crow at 4am!! nobody ever complained though. we live in a small town now and i went for all hens this round but some of our neighbors have actually mentioned that they wish we had a rooster.. to add a ‘rural’ sound to the street.
i agree with previous comments. it seems as though you have a female buff. she looks well feathered already and you would probably see spurs by now. but be forewarned- hens can make some pretty shocking noises too!
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