Do pointed neck feathers always mean roo?

[kara_leigh]

I have a group of six 10-week-old chicks, and so far all of them have crowed except for one. I'm pretty certain that one is a pullet, but she has pointed neck feathers. All of the cockerels have very big and very red combs, and this one doesn't have any comb at all yet. Please tell me that this chicken could still be a "she". It's my favorite one, and I really want to keep it but we already have our keeper roo picked out from the group.

Next to one of the cockerels

Thanks!

 

[sevenbabychicks]

Naw, my JG hen has super pointed neck feathers. In fact, of three 2 month-olds I picked up recently, the now-confirmed roo had the roundest hackles at even 12 weeks! I honestly think that feather shape isn't a dependable indicator of sex at an early age.

 

[cafarmgirl]

No, pointed neck feather's don't always indicate a roo. Especially in EE's. My EE hen has very pointy neck feathers just like yours. EE's are also notoriously hard to sex. Your's looks girly to me although that comb looks pretty pink for only 10 weeks. So I guess I'm waffling on this one! But my guess would be pullet.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Looks like she's a she to me!

 

[PotterWatch]

Many EEs have feathers that look pointed because of their coloring but if you lift one individual feather and look at it, you will see that it isn't really pointed at all. That is something that confuses a lot of people looking at EE pictures.

 

[Sandy16]

Here is a pic of our two EE hens...pointed neck feathers and eggs every day!

 

[debid]

I was assured that was girl coloration. She could be my Hazel's twin...

 

[kara_leigh]

Quote:
It actually has very little color. My picture was washed out so I had to edit the colors to get the feathers true to color and it added more pink to the comb than it really has. It's really pale IRL, especially compared to the boys who all have huge BRIGHT RED combs already.

I just took these. The dark chicken's comb is actually a darker red than the picture shows.

The arrow is pointing to the chicken in my OP, and she doesn't really have any color in her comb compared to the boys. The black boy is a different breed (BA).

 

[Legend]

This is Tiger 10 weeks and 6 days ... if he's not a roo I would be surprised, however below is Chocolate and she has very pointy neck feathers, but behaves like a girl and doesn't have the big comb and wattles, they hatched the same day. I agree it may not be an accurate indication.

 

[Legend]

By the way mine are Golden Partridge Orpingtons.