What is a Male Chicken Called?

Identifying an Adult Female vs. an Adult Male Chicken

When chicks mature, chicken breeders use a few visual signifiers to distinguish roosters from an adult hen.

The most obvious features between them are the rooster combs and wattles: flaps of skin that indicate high levels of testosterone and may also signal that the rooster is ready to fight off any male rivals. Most breeds of roosters feature a bright red comb for maximum visibility.

Other common indicators are the development of leg muscles and orientation of feathers. As they become ready to lay eggs, most adult female chicken breeds develop thicker legs with short, stubby claws. Meanwhile the same breed of roosters tend to retain long legs with sharp claws on their feet for defense.

Hen feathers tend to be soft and plush all along the body, while the rooster grows coarser, more exaggerated feathers. Hens keep short, rounded hackle feathers for their whole life, while most male chickens develop long and ornate hackle feathers along the ridge of their back.

Then there are the long saddle feathers, which populate the tail area and either point rearward or fan out to make the rooster appear larger to foes.

Can Female Chickens Change Sex?

Miss Lucille was a sweet little pullet (young hen), who found a cozy home in the chicken coop of Kristi Allens (not her real name) Powder Springs, Georgia, backyard. Initially, things appeared to be status quo with the young exchequer leghorn cross.

After observing her for a time, however, Allen noticed Miss Lucille was growing a comb. Although both sexes of the breed can have them, Allens instincts told her that perhaps something wasnt quite standard, so she sought the help of a local farmer. Allen recalls:

Advertisement “The farmer did all of the checks to confirm Miss Lucille was a miss. She had no long saddle feathers [pointy feathers at the base of the tail], no aggression, didnt jump or react in the presence of all the hens and roosters, and when she was laid back in the farmers hand, she stuck her legs out straight and just laid there. All are old timers tricks to identifying adult roosters since theres no definitive way to tell until they mount another chicken or crow, aside from lab testing.”

Miss Lucille had “failed” the rooster test. However, later on, Allen arrived home to a mess of feathers in the backyard, an unusual event because female chickens dont usually molt until around 18 months. She also started exhibiting more aggressive behavior.

“She began acting more temperamental, but I attributed that to her molting, as it can be quite uncomfortable for chickens,” she says. “I was worried about her health.”

Although strange things were certainly afoot in Miss Lucilles world, none of them were health-threatening. When her feathers grew back, they were pointed saddle feathers, signaling a transition to an adult male chicken. Her hackles and tail feathers had also undergone some major changes.

“She went from being your typical hen to a rooster with beautiful, long tail feathers and pointy hackles. Her gait changed, and she was definitely at the top of the pecking order,” Allen says.

Further consultation advised a wait-and-see approach. One farmer told her, “Just because she now looked like a rooster didnt mean she was one. I needed to wait until she crowed or mounted one of the hens.”

Ironically, Miss Lucille became more mellow and friendly. “But then her comb kept getting bigger and redder. For every indicator she might still be a she, there was another for her being a he,” she says.

Finally, the irrefutable proof came at around 5 months of age: The rooster literally crowed. “Every day the crow grew louder and stronger. It was official that Miss Lucille was now Mr. Lucille,” Allen says.

“And to his credit, he assumed the role wonderfully. If the girls were low on water, hed crow and let me know to get on it. Hed lead the charge up to roost at night. Hed wake us up with his song early each morning.”

Chicken | Rooster Crowing Sound #shorts

FAQ

What is a male chicken?

What is the proper name for a male chicken?

Cock: a fertile adult male chicken. Cockerel: a young male chicken. Hen: an adult female chicken.

Can a male chicken not be a rooster?

What is a male chicken called?

Male chickens are known as Roosters. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, adult male chickens over one year old are known as cocks whereas in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, they are more commonly called roosters. Also, the young male chickens are known as cockerel in the UK and Ireland. So, Rooster is a male fowl.

Is a chicken a female or a male?

Chickens are not a sex, they are a type of bird. If all chickens were females, there would be no more chickens since they couldn’t produce any more. To make it easier to describe them, we call female chickens hens or pullets and male chickens are called cocks, cockerels or roosters, but they are all chickens.

Do we eat male chickens?

Yes, we can eat male chickens just like hens. They almost have the same nutrition value and are safe to eat. It is not written anywhere that people should not eat roosters. You may never have heard of people consuming roosters. However, the fact is that several people enjoy this meat and even prefer it to hen meat.

What do you called a young male chicken?

A young male chicken is called a Cockerel. This is term typically given to a male chicken that is less than a year old. After a year, or when they mature and start mating they become roosters. The world of chickens can get a little confusing at times as they are lots of different terms, names, and terminology to learn.