How to Tell if this Golden Polish is a Hen or Rooster?

Instead of being informative with this “How to,” I’m really asking.

Is this golden Polish chicken a hen or a rooster (or right now, pullet or cockerel)? How long until I can tell for sure? I was hoping someone had experience with this breed in particular since it seems a lot different than our other chickens.

Photo Caption: This golden Polish is very tame and humorous to watch.

*Edit* Here’s some more photos to help with identification:

We’ve been trying to guess from the beginning what our freebie chick would turn out to be. It’s easier to find homes for hens than roosters, but my daughter is hoping that someone will want it (for uses other than fighting or the kitchen soup pot).

Photo Caption: From day one this chick looked different than the others.

I took a video, too:

YouTube Preview Image

Out of the online images of golden Polish chickens I thought these photos at CD Farms, LLC were striking. I had been thinking our little chick’s longer tail feathers than our marans and leghorns meant that it must be a rooster, and now I don’t feel sure at all.

Photo Caption: A golden Polish rooster at CD Farms, LLC.

Right now, our chick looks more like the hen pictured below than the rooster pictured above.

Photo Caption: A golden Polish hen at CD Farms, LLC.

I need to find a new home for this chick whether it turns out to be a hen or not, because we’ve already chosen our 6 chicks and the coop we built won’t accommodate more than that.

What do you think, do we have a male or female? I’ve also asked on the breed & gender forum at Backyard Chickens.

*Edit* This chicken turned out to be a rooster and has found a permanent residence at Pecandale Farmstead.

Eliza Lord

I'm a Greenville, SC native (the Appalachian foothills) who wears the hats of Greenville Master Gardener & Upstate Master Naturalist. I love to write about food and sustainability.

12 thoughts on “How to Tell if this Golden Polish is a Hen or Rooster?”

  1. Nathan Strange - June 6, 2011 3:59 pm

    I have two young gold-laced polish, too, and I can’t figure out for the life of me if they are male or female! I haven’t been able to find anything online and no one around me knows much about them. I’m glad you posted this – hopefully we’ll get an answer.

    Personally, I LOVE them. They are my absolute favorites – I adore everything about them. I hope you are able to find a good home for them – they are special birds!

    Nathan
    Nathan Strange´s last blog post ..Earth Day Time for an update

    1. Sustainahillbilly
      Twitter: appalachianfeet
      - June 6, 2011 4:23 pm

      We have found this little chicken highly entertaining and lots of our friends are enamored with it. My sister has been calling it “Lyle” for Mr. Lovett, but perhaps it is a Lylette. 😉

      I hope your chicks turn out to be hens! (Assuming that is what you are hoping for…)
      Sustainahillbilly´s last blog post ..How to Tell if this Golden Polish is a Hen or Rooster

  2. Heather - June 6, 2011 5:14 pm

    I don’t know, but my neighbors have several of this breed. They’re unique looking!

    1. Sustainahillbilly
      Twitter: appalachianfeet
      - June 6, 2011 5:32 pm

      Neat! I wish we could keep ours but we already had our heart set on some of the other chicks we raised.
      Sustainahillbilly´s last blog post ..How to Tell if this Golden Polish is a Hen or Rooster

  3. Curbstone Valley Farm - June 6, 2011 6:36 pm

    I don’t have experience with this breed specifically, but looking at the feather patterns, male vs. female, you should be able to tell by the time the hackle feathers are maturing around 6-8 weeks of age, assuming you don’t have any clues before then. The freebie exotic chicks are challenging because you have nobody to compare them to. We had the same trouble with Frodo. However, the hackle feathers in the Golden Polish roo seem to be more uniform in color than the hen, so that should help give you a clue before you start to hear any crowing 😉 Looks like a very handsome bird regardless, a bit like our Golden Laced Wyandottes, but with a fancy hair-do!
    Curbstone Valley Farm´s last blog post ..Second Chances – Jenny’s New Eggs

    1. Sustainahillbilly
      Twitter: appalachianfeet
      - June 10, 2011 1:53 pm

      That fancy hair-do has been giving us the giggles! We’re really hoping it turns out to be a hen because my friend’s son has fallen in love with it. If it’s a rooster, we still have to place it with a stranger.
      Sustainahillbilly´s last blog post ..How to Miss 21 Chickens Even if They Were Living in Your Kitchen

  4. Donna - June 7, 2011 8:14 pm

    what a fabulous looking bird…I love going to the state fair to see all the poultry..so unusual…
    Donna´s last blog post ..Garden Journal-The Promise of June

    1. Sustainahillbilly
      Twitter: appalachianfeet
      - June 10, 2011 1:53 pm

      Thanks! We need to check on when our state fair is — I bet we’d enjoy it a lot now that we keep our own chickens (and we’ve always been into home canning and growing vegetables). I wonder how you enter…
      Sustainahillbilly´s last blog post ..How to Miss 21 Chickens Even if They Were Living in Your Kitchen

  5. Pingback: How to Miss 21 Chickens (Even if They Were Living in Your Kitchen) | Appalachian Feet

  6. Amanda - July 6, 2011 12:19 pm

    Supposedly you can tell roos from pullets in the polish by the fact that the roos top hat will be WILD even as a chick when they start to feather out. I have recently gotten into the polish this year and a friend of my husband’s has been helping us along with tons of polish info.

  7. Jess - November 24, 2011 4:55 pm

    Youre chicken is probably a rooster because its head is more scruffy, when hens are more smooth.

  8. Whit U. Forever - February 26, 2012 8:49 am

    If there is no comb and no wattles, it is a hen. On this breed of Polish chickens, the roos have what look like devil’s horns for a comb, but always have wattles. Hens don’t have either one. So, from what I can see, this one has neither, so my guess is that it is a hen.

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