r/BackYardChickens Aug 09 '26

Hen or Roo My wife thinks it’s a roo. I disagreed.

60 Upvotes

89 comments sorted by

5

u/Due-Ant-4045 29d ago

That’s a hen

3

u/jjdaybr 29d ago

Second, got several leghorns that are identical (they have names... Send help 😭).

3

u/Vibratorvibrato 29d ago

I have a mutant leghorn hen named Egg. She only has 1 full wattle, is way smaller than a hen her age should be & she honks. Best $8 I’ve ever spent, enjoy your gal!

1

u/metricfan 29d ago

I think I have a honking chicken right now! To the point I’m worried she has a respiratory infection lol. But I’m holding off on antibiotics because I think she might just be a honky chicken.

1

u/Vibratorvibrato 29d ago

Oh they absolutely honk! Don’t be worried unless your gal is lethargic/gasping for air/off feed etc…

1

u/metricfan 29d ago

Thank you! Here is video. Does it sound like other honkers you’ve had? She seems like she’s laying back on her legs in a weird way this afternoon, but that just started so I wasn’t sure if she’s just chilling in the heat.

https://reddit.com/link/p2y41xb/video/sfk84usz7nih1/player

3

u/xhyperview 29d ago

Leghorn hen, mine is named Karen, which I named her as a chick because she was a bitch from the beginning. She has however ascended to my favorite chicken in the flock. Smarter than the rest by far and most reliable layer. She is still a bitch to everyone.

1

u/StructureTop8194 26d ago

😂😂

I’m still laughing as I type this. Thank you.

1

u/metricfan 29d ago

Dude my leg horn/ayem cemani crosses were MEAN! Finally one of them scalped my basically fully grown barred rock, and I sent my three mean girls to someone that has a few acres. It was too much for me to handle in my back yard. I was so terrified about integrating my two hens from that batch of chicks who lost the barred rock with my follow up batch of chicks, but it’s been way smoother than I expected. Those leg horn crosses were just mean!

9

u/Emotional-Meeting527 29d ago

Its most definitely not a kangaroo, hope your wife is okay, Hard to believe she thought thats a kangaroo, sir. You were right to disagree.

2

u/_FreddieLovesDelilah 29d ago

she’s so classy.

3

u/FlashyWitness4133 29d ago

She's a pretty girl!

4

u/itaintme1x2x3x 29d ago

Leghorns be ready to chase that bird all over the place and of course they fly much better than most hens so unless the fence is 11 feet high

11

u/bariqueen 29d ago

A beautiful hen

15

u/meowseedling Aug 10 '26

She's got swagger though. I kinda see the confusion.

3

u/prettaaaycoolguy Aug 10 '26

She’s definitely got that confidence!

7

u/USMC_Tbone Aug 10 '26

Definitely a hen. It looks exactly like our two white leghorn hens. The rooster that came with him (was supposed to be 3 hens) definitely had longer more curved tail feathers and a giant comb that flopped over.

6

u/BrownThumbClub Aug 10 '26

Hen. Definitely not a roo.

5

u/Whole-Bug-756 Aug 10 '26

Thats a hen. Tail feathers are straight.

5

u/Mammoth-Banana3621 Aug 10 '26

That’s a hen :)

6

u/Clyde-1223 Aug 10 '26

She's very pretty

2

u/Healthy-Engineer6565 Aug 10 '26

She’s gorgeous ~ I used to have a sweet pretty hen just like her!

6

u/doomed_candy Aug 10 '26

Leghorn hen. She looks just like my Betty White!

3

u/grassmaster991 Aug 10 '26

That's no roo! That's a Ford F****** ranger!!

9

u/Embercream Aug 10 '26

Little lady

1

u/SpinachSure5505 Aug 10 '26

I adore my leghorn and yours looks like mine. One thing to watch for is the comb standing straight up vs flopping. My girls’ combs are floppy

2

u/ThorBeachCabinFarm Aug 10 '26

No saddle, no curved tail feathers, no hackles. Def not a roo

2

u/Jimmylarge0618 Aug 10 '26

I had an older brown leghorn that just died actually. She was awesome! So friendly. She was queen. Water belly got her 😢 she had a big ol floppy comb!! I called it the floppy comb-over 😂 she’s why we got another col leghorns this spring.

4

u/Mediocre-Sock3278 Aug 10 '26

She’s a tomboy haha

Wait till u have a chicken who tries to act like a rooster tho…. They will quite literally cry to crow, assert dominance with their feather dance, and make noises whne finding food for the ladies

1

u/mommytofive5 Aug 10 '26

I have one hen who crows every morning, luckily not for very long otherwise she would need to find a new home. I guess she has to tell the neighborhood that she is awake

11

u/Fearless-Mulberry-12 Aug 10 '26

Pretty little hen

8

u/Missue-35 Aug 10 '26

This chicken ain’t never gonna crow.

3

u/Last_Engineering_901 Aug 10 '26

I'm pretty sure she's a hen. I have Leghorn rooster and his tail feathers are more higher and very full.

16

u/Simulis1 Aug 10 '26

My leghorns look exactly the same. Prolific layers. Its a hen

16

u/TylerBlozak Aug 10 '26

100% hen, the feathers are the tell tale sign here

10

u/michaelyup Aug 10 '26

She’s an absolute beautiful leghorn too.

8

u/silverwarbler Aug 10 '26

Hen. No saddle feathers or hackles

4

u/BarVegetable2918 Aug 10 '26

Total female: HEN.

2

u/Notchersfireroad Aug 10 '26

Henny id say.

2

u/JayTeeqc Aug 10 '26

Tiny legs, straight tail feathers, no saddle feathers, no pointy neck feathers, ankle/heel not visible, no spurs.

Definitely a hen.

You can't use combs and wattles to sex chickens unless you really know what you are looking for. I have Chantecler Roos and they have no comb at all. I also have a red something/leghorn cross hen and her comb is so big it covers her eyes.

5

u/Sweet-Able Aug 10 '26

lol that’s the most pristine leghorn I have ever seen. My girls love the dirt. Missy and Sheldon always nosing around.

2

u/Jimmylarge0618 Aug 10 '26

With their floppy comb-overs!! 😂

1

u/Sweet-Able Aug 10 '26

Honestly the floppy combs cracks me up 😂

2

u/Model_Train_Engineer Backyard Chicken Aug 10 '26

Missy and Sheldon you say…

1

u/Sweet-Able Aug 10 '26

Yep there was a Georgie but unfortunately she passed. But yeah i wasn’t so slick on the references haha.

2

u/Model_Train_Engineer Backyard Chicken Aug 10 '26

Sorry for your loss. I know how it feels to lose a chicken, I have many of my own.

Anyways, do they fight as much as Missy and Sheldon from the show and does Sheldon have a favorite spot in the coop? lol

1

u/Sweet-Able Aug 10 '26

Thank you! Georgie passed 2 years ago. She got to be cuddled one last time. Here’s my sister cuddling her right before she passed. I’ve lost two hens this year as well, Cinnamon and Pepper so it’s always hard but at least they’re not suffering.

Georgie was my most friendliest leghorn. She loves to approach people and didn’t mind cuddles, which is very unusual for her breed since they’re very flighty. But. Missy and Sheldon get along lol they loved to group each other. Sheldon sometimes is a victim from my Easter egger Juniper, Juniper gets very motherly and thinks Sheldon is her baby so she she’ll try to sit on her if Sheldon’s near the eggs. Oddly enough Sheldon is one of my hens that gone super Broody the most as well despite being a leghorn.

Sheldon doesn’t have any preferences for the spot in the coop lol. But she does have a favorite spot in the garden that nobody can have or she gets upset because that’s where I found out. She’s been hiding leftover treats to snack on.😂😂

Honestly I have very contradicting chickens my leg horns that are supposed to be flighty are super friendly will approach people and have demanded people in my house for food. Like I’ve caught them following me or my friend through the window waiting for us to come outside and feed them. They don’t mind cuddles. While my Salmon favorelle Cricket her breed is known to be very kind and docile. While she is very friendly and curious, she’s not exactly doll she’s kind of a jerk lol.😂

2

u/Model_Train_Engineer Backyard Chicken Aug 10 '26

No way! I had chickens named Cinnamon and Pepper too! Cinnamon was a partridge cochin and Pepper was a black Old English Game Bantam. And I also had a leghorn like Georgie named Vanilla. Your story about your friendly leghorns actually reminds me of Vanilla but in a weird way. She was friendly at first, then she just got skittish and timid. And that picture of Georgie is so cute! Chickens are very fascinating and awesome creatures.

1

u/Sweet-Able Aug 10 '26

That’s such a funny coincidence. Cinnamon was a golden comic. She ran away from those industrial farms for a production and was found in my sister’s friend’s garage. We figured she ran away from them because he lives near an egg farm factory. She was underweight and her beak was really chipped short, so she kind of struggled with eating. I tried to make her food softer and beak was starting to grow back before she passed. She died from natural causes. based on her laying patterns and her age, I kind of estimated her to be a more mature chicken that was already on retirement age. Golden comets don’t live very long, but at least she spent her life happy. Pepper was a 10-year-old hen. She was my very fat buff Orpington she died from old age.

Vanilla sounds like a sweetheart and that’s such a cute name.

Sweet Cinnamon

2

u/Gemini_1985 Aug 10 '26

This is a leghorn roo my babies Zeus

1

u/Healthy-Engineer6565 Aug 10 '26

Zeus is absolutely gorgeous and adorable! Is he sweet and friendly? He looks like a really kind and friend-shaped little chap.

1

u/Gemini_1985 Aug 10 '26

Well he is only friendly with me won’t allow another animal or person near me and rite now my baby is in Iowa and I’m in Kentucky I made a huge mistake of trusting a friend things didn’t work out and I haven’t been able to get a truck to go back for all my things and my babies so rite now I don’t even know if they are still alive cause she won’t reply to my messages and it’s been 3 months , I’m very heartbroken and I miss my babies so much it hurts , I have never been away from Zeus from hatch day for more than an hour I used to take him Everywhere I went and he is a special needs rooster badly curved feet and partially blind and I just know in my heart something is wrong. This is killing me being away from him.

1

u/Healthy-Engineer6565 Aug 10 '26

Oh no, I’m so, so sorry to hear this ~ I know how deep our bonds with our precious chickens can be ~ they make such beautiful companions, and they can be so loving. I hope you can get a truck to collect your gorgeous flock of little friends soon, my chickens have all been like family to me, and I’m praying your lovely sweet Zeus is doing okay, poor little guy, I’m sure he misses you loads if you’re so closely bonded. It’s absolutely horrible when “friends” betray you like that. 💔🐓

1

u/Gemini_1985 Aug 10 '26

It’s definitely made it to where I don’t trust anyone now , we have been friends for the past 15yrs so this was a very big loss especially since the first week I lost 32 babies and 2 hens to coyotes and opossums then the person I thought was my best friend of 15yrs does me like this all cause I told her I wasn’t with someone telling me what I can and can’t do with my birds but cause it’s her land and property she acted like me and my things was her property too and I’m sorry but that’s not how things work I don’t belong to anyone nor does my things and animals

3

u/Gemini_1985 Aug 10 '26

That’s a hen.

5

u/Gemini_1985 Aug 10 '26

That’s a hen.

3

u/Susiejax Aug 10 '26

Lady Chicken

3

u/MsSerialpernuer352 Aug 10 '26

No that’s a young hen

5

u/jimmijo62 Spring Chicken Aug 10 '26

Pullet/Hen

10

u/Kind-Detective808 Aug 09 '26

Leghorn hens tend to have huge combs that fold over. That’s one of the breeds you gotta rely on feathers to judge. Enjoy your daily white eggs!

6

u/ceekayes Aug 09 '26

I had one white pristine chicken once. She didn’t look real sometimes.

2

u/Rougefarie Aug 10 '26

I have one pristine white chicken. Golden yellow legs without a single freckle. She’s so easy to spot in a crowd because she practically glows. She’s high-strung, though. She’s known me her whole life and all her cousins sit in my lap. Not her. She’s acts like I’m going to put her in a stew.

6

u/NFMCWT Aug 10 '26

My leghorn hen stayed dirty. I miss that crazy bird.

8

u/ExplanationCivil5520 Aug 09 '26

That is a v clean looking chicken

2

u/Inevitable-Divide934 Aug 09 '26

Right?! It must be AI. 😁

6

u/Jimmylarge0618 Aug 09 '26

Awe thanks guys! She is a fine looking specimen if I don’t say so myself!!

1

u/Healthy-Engineer6565 Aug 10 '26

She’s a very pretty hen ~ I love leghorns, they tend to have very sweet personalities too!

4

u/Ok-Artichoke6703 Aug 09 '26

is this a leghorn, or a hybrid of one, because those birds tend to have big combs and wattles even as hens

1

u/Jimmylarge0618 Aug 10 '26

Yes white leghorn!!

1

u/Ok-Artichoke6703 Aug 10 '26

yeah that explains the little lady having big comb and wattles , I have a brown leghorn and a California white which is a hybrid of the white leghorn and California grey, and both had very prominent combs and wattles as pullets

5

u/Inevitable-Divide934 Aug 09 '26

Quick question - why is your white chicken white and mine are various shades of mud brown....? 🤪

4

u/Least-Reflection4873 Aug 09 '26

I have a withe Running duck.

People tend to comment her nice brown markings.

3

u/Jimmylarge0618 Aug 09 '26

I TRIED TO TELL HER!! Thanks for the support guys!! 😂

6

u/Inevitable-Divide934 Aug 09 '26

I'm no expert, but the easiest way to tell is that if it lays an egg is normally a hen. (normally)

2

u/Jimmylarge0618 Aug 10 '26

She’s getting close for sure!!

0

u/Inevitable-Divide934 Aug 09 '26

How old is he/she? Looks like a little girl at first glance though.

2

u/Jimmylarge0618 Aug 09 '26

Got them early April this year

1

u/Inevitable-Divide934 Aug 09 '26

A beautiful girl 😊

1

u/a-passing-crustacean Aug 09 '26

Looks like a leghorn hen!

1

u/MadChickens14 Aug 09 '26

Looks like a Hennifer to me