I just got told on another forum that my female was a male....

Here are all the photos of what we now know is a GLW however I trust you guys more and I was told on another forums that she is really a he.... input and insight please my friends including the original photos that were used when trying to work out her breed

I think it's a hen. The neck feathers aren't so pointy I'd think rooster, and the comb is small.

Such a pretty chicken.

It has very strong hen characteristics, so I'm thinking it's probably a girl.

But... chickens aren't that simple.  They have strong gender roles and sex.  Sex being how they were born.  But gender being where they fit in the flock.

For example, the word we have in English "rooster" (a boy chicken is called a cock or cockerel ".  A rooster is the head of the flock, like the mayor of a city.  Normally this is a male job in the henhouse, but just like mayors, a girl can take on this role.  She might change her feathers and grow her comb long to match her place in the flock.  She might even start crowing and demanding piggyback rides, but her sex will still be female.  

Likewise, a male can go the other way and behave like a hen (only without the eggs).  But I've only seen this once and not a full transformation.  He still remains the rooster but he has definite hen behaviour when he thinks the girls aren't watching.  

Trans-chickens are rare, but I've had about a dozen in the last 10 years.  

...

My instinct from looking at the picture is it's probably a girl, but it does have some pointy feathers around the neck that are a bit more male, but that could just be the stage they are in or the breed.  Going to have to wait and see which way they develop.  

Apparently she has “saddle” feathers...

Candice Spicer wrote:Yes that is what she is spose to be her name is Audrey... these people on the other site are idiots...lol

When I was learning about chickens, I got every book out of the library on the topic and read.

Then I sat down and read the books to the chickens because they wouldn't be the way the book said they were supposed to be.

Then I understood that each chicken is a unique individual with their own likes and dislikes.  

Lol my chickens wouldn’t sit still long enough for me to read to them....lol...

How old is your bird? Older than 6-7 months and not laying?: You may have a rooster, depending on the breed, although the head looks more like that of a female. Since it is near adulthood, more or less, the easiest thing to do is wait: Either she will lay eggs or he won't. The vet might be able to sex it with more certainty but that will cost ya!
More to the point: why is it important for you to know the sex of your chicken? Are you debating adding a rooster and fear they will fight [They will, most certainly if there are not enough females for both [and even then.]]
I had my proportions right male/female but my 2 roosters started fighting. Normally not a big deal, but one was la little lame, and it became obvious that he would be killed if I didn't do it first. The lame one made valiant attempts at proving his virility but the other one would always interrupt. Once I saw blood on the inside of the door and the lame one got caught upside down between 2 homer pails of feed, so I took him out and dispatched him.
As far as "transgender" you may have heard of "caponizing". It is to me a rather barbaric custom to relieve the young cockerel of his family jewels as the 2 testes are very deep inside his body, along the backbone, about the size of a grain of rice. It was done in France a long time go, for the King's table, but the SPCA has intervened. They passed the skills to the Vietnamese during the French occupation of Indo-China, [unless it came directly from China]. In some cultures, it  is done quite routinely without any anesthesia. I've seen videos showing the procedure: The chicken does not appear to suffer: It stays stunned during the operation and gets back to his feed within minutes. I could not trust myself to do it humanely, so I won't, but there are some advantages to having capons.
All this to tell you more about the lives of caponized cockerels: the reason it has been done is to make them bigger and fatter and reduce the incidence of fighting. Just like it is done to bulls and rams.
A full sexed cockerel and a capon can live together in harmony. What is extraordinary is that this capon may be tempted to brood the eggs of other hens and may even defend the hens he lives with. (Today's races, which are bred to lay eggs but not brood them may not do that as the brooding instinct has been killed along the way and it is a pity.)
I had a rooster in the last batch of layers but something happened to it, and it died, so now, I only have hens. Their behavior, now that they are deprived of a rooster has changed a great deal: While they did not accept petting previously, they now seem to seek it: I place my hand flat on their back and they squat and as I get close to the tail I grasp the tail gently and lift a little. Their cloaca enlarges immediately. Once released, they shake like they have been with a rooster. Two of the girls have a markedly larger comb now, and I've seen them mount other hens. I've caught these 2 fighting and they really looked like roosters [No spurs yet, though]. However, I'm still getting 14 eggs out of 14 hens, so they have not totally transgendered, thank goodness.
All animals have sex lives, and when their sexuality is thwarted, you can expect strange behaviors: Women kept in harems had sex amongst themselves, prisoners in all-male prisons do as well. Catholic priests are sorely tempted to break their vows. Bees deprived of their queens may pretend to be a queen and lay eggs as well, although since they have not mated with a drone, they can only lay drones eggs. The other bees will treat her like a queen and will raise the drones to term too, so the transgenderism transfers to her hive companions. It is really fascinating.

She is only 17 weeks old give or take... and if she is indeed a boy then I’d have to rehome as my council won’t allow me to have a rooster in my area.... and I’d hate to rehome my feathered baby.

Candice Spicer wrote:She is only 17 weeks old give or take... and if she is indeed a boy then I’d have to rehome as my council won’t allow me to have a rooster in my area.... and I’d hate to rehome my feathered baby.

First, I should say it really looks like a hen, so you may be worried over nothing, but:
Ah! Rules and regulations! We are all bound by them ... until we care to try and change them. There is a lot of noise in our lives: cars, trucks going by. Children screaming and fighting, the neighbor and his chainsaw, loud music that is not to our liking at all hours of day and night. And a rooster doesn't crow all day long. A lonely dog does bark all day long. Which is more offensive? Also, do you cultivate a good relationship with your neighbor? Most neighbors do not rat on their neighbors even if there is a little inconvenience: We would all rather keep a good relationship going with folks who live nearby.
We have here what is called a "Conditional Use Permit". Once you are sure the chicken is a rooster and may cause noise, you may want to go that route: Go to your Town/ City Council and explain that you thought it was a hen [It is important that you don't come across as deliberately having set out to break the rules], and then throw yourself on their mercy:  I love this chicken, it is my pet, he really doesn't make much noise at all.    Essentially, it is an agreement you sign with the town saying that yes, you may have a rooster, but only on the condition that it does not cause trouble [Neighbor complaints.]
If your neighbors do not complain, you may keep the roo. If they do, then and only then would you have to get rid of it.
You could try "companion animal" too. It has been done.
On the sociopolitical side of it, you may want to fight that battle. I'm sure that there would be many understanding souls who take your side, even on the City Council. I'm not sure what your city council looks like, but they don't all have the same opinion, and opinions can be swayed. Do you live in the middle of the town, where there is no way to hide a rooster? Or do you have a small area that could be fenced, perhaps even sound-insulated? If you do your part to mitigate the sound, there should not be any problems.
Would the person who provided the chicken be willing to make an exchange with a more mature girl if it comes to that? Hopefully of roughly the same size/ age? [yes, chickens of different ages will fight to assume dominance, and the weaker one ends up on the bottom.] That is just the way they do things in the chicken world.
Is that your only chicken? You may love the idea of having one chicken, but these baby chicks also have their own needs. One of them is companionship with other chickens. (Sorry, Mom, you don't qualify). For more on this topic, here goes:
https://www.hobbyfarms.com/can-chickens-get-lonely/#:~:text=Chickens%20feel%20the%20same.,egg%20laying%20and%20shorten%20lifespan.
I just hope that this will give you a few ideas to make you, the Town, the chickens and the neighbors happy so you all can live in harmony.
Good luck to you. Let us know how that turns out.

Hi Candice,
Manage by exception - that is until you are told by the council that you have a rooster and there has been a complaint, keep going.  We have a chook which is often broody and she makes a huge racket when she is put out for a feed and a drink. But never misses the opportunity once out there to tell the others of her indignity.  It is the same with backyard bees.  The neighbours usually respond well to some fresh eggs and some honey and what ever else is spare.  If you establish a community group you will enjoy a better community cohesion as well as encourage all the neighbours to give you their scraps for the chooks >>>> cheaper to feed.
And to boot, there may also be the opportunity for a community garden, community book club and other activities.  One never knows what one chook can achieve in a lifetime.  Good luck with your chicken rearing.  AND please stay safe from COVID - 19 We can only hope and pray that the world vaccine roll out is some what successful in slowing the deaths and severe illness..

Cecile, the question is not the relationship with your neighbors; it's the hours when roosters are the most active. We live across from a park and every now and then people drop off pets there. A cock appeared there once and was screaming around 4.30-5am each and every morning. We assume that raccoons got to him because he stopped a couple months later but those early mornings were horrible, they really affected our lives... for me personally the deepest sleep is from 3 to 6am, and when it's interrupted I feel depleted all day. Laws are made for a reason, sorry we don't live on acreage and many neighbors don't care... i heard stories when people were patient until they couldn't be patient any longer, took a gun and killed their neighbors for a small thing. You never know what mental condition your neighbors are in and cannot assume it's just "a little inconvenience"; maybe they suffer from insomnia, depression, suicidal tendencies, uncontrollable aggression and especially now in these difficult times, better not to add to that with cocks waking the entire neighborhood before dawn.

For those suffering from insomnia as I do and having to endure loud roosters, they have all my sympathy. I don't mean to be unkind or lecture others. I have been using cotton balls to make my sleep deeper. Along with some Melatonin, it helps [a little]
Now, if I could only get rid of the tinnitus!

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:For those suffering from insomnia as I do and having to endure loud roosters, they have all my sympathy. I don't mean to be unkind or lecture others. I have been using cotton balls to make my sleep deeper. Along with some Melatonin, it helps [a little]
Now, if I could only get rid of the tinnitus!

I feel for anybody with Tinnitus.  There are some things that can assist.  A lot of veterans have this horrible infliction due to being near loud noises, disrupting the inner ear. It often goes hand in hand with vertigo.  This site is available to people in the US. https://www.ata.org/managing-your-tinnitus/treatment-options
As for sleep, tinnitus and vertigo will disrupt it no matter what.  There are some really good ear muffs that create white noise and block out other noises effectively.  The bedroom being at 16 - 18 degrees C (60 - 65 F) allows the body to go into a hibernating state and the melatonin be more effective.
Other effective strategies include not worrying about going to sleep, getting 8 hours per night and the other must do things.  Go to bed when you are tired not at a specific time.  When you wake up, get up.  If you need to remember something write it down and never sleep on an argument - Always say sorry, make up and go to bed with a clear refreshed mind.  I say to my wife every night "Good night, I love you" (still doing it 44 years later).
Hope this helps a little bit to enjoy a better sleep. ;-) zzZZZ

I think everyone is missing the point of the question.... look at the photos posted.... is the chicken in question a girl or a boy?

Candice Spicer wrote:I think everyone is missing the point of the question.... look at the photos posted.... is the chicken in question a girl or a boy?

"Looks" like a girl but is still quite young to be sure.

Compared to other photos of chooks the same age, it looks female.

So Candice,
Is there a definitive answer yet? I am very curious to know when you know - and an update picture please
Cheers

She’s not crowing and I don’t think she’s laying yet... but these are updated photos.... options?

Candice Spicer wrote:She’s not crowing and I don’t think she’s laying yet... but these are updated photos.... options?

I'm getting more convinced that it's a girl: the comb is a little redder but still too short to be male, and I do not see little spurs on the legs.

I'm calling Hen on this one. I see no evidence of saddle feathers and there are definitely not any hackle feathers coming in on the neck. The only breed of chicken I know of that you have to wait until crowing age to tell apart is the Brown Henny. So named because you can't tell the males from the females until they start crowing. What fun they were to raise! If she was going to have a saddle it would have been grown in by now. So would the hackle feathers (the very colorful ones that come in around the head and neck). I see nothing to indicate this is a male. Normally, hens don't begin to lay until about 10 months of age and you will usually get one or two pullet eggs before you get a full sized actual egg from them. Remember, if you do not have a Rooster on the property the hens will act like one anyway. One hen will step the other and visa versa. I had a friend here in Arizona that wanted to keep chickens but he only raised rare breeds and actually went to the expense of having surgery done on several of his Roosters so they could not crow loud enough for anyone to hear it. I know, that's going a bit far for me too. Anyway, I think you have a very nice Hen to add to your flock. Remember, for heavier bodied breeds your nesting boxes need to be positioned so they can easily reach them or they will just lay their eggs wherever and you will end up with an egg eating problem. I had wooden eggs that I kept in all my nesting boxes so I didn't have much of a problem that way. Usually if I caught a hen eating another hens eggs she went to the butcher pen and that was the end of the problem. Ya'll take care now, hear!

If that's a rooster I'd eat my hat. At 21 weeks if it's not crowing it's not a boy. Mine start around 12. By 21 they're screaming their fool heads off.

Having said that those do look saddle-feather-y, but I still think you have a lady.

Update: she is only now just started to get the gold colour coming through on her head and neck... I’ll try to get some photos as I need to prove to everyone on the other forum that they are all incredibly wrong...

And no I don’t have a rooster only a drake Muscovy....

I have 2 non crowing adult roosters.   I still suspect the pictured bird is a hen.