The mystery of Adrian, the rooster who might be a hen, has officially ruffled my feathers, and I mean that in the best way possible. Here we have a bird gifted to some unsuspecting in-laws a couple months ago, a little terror somewhere between two and three months old, already chasing people and the family dog like he owns the place. And yet, there is that glaring absence: no tail. For anyone who has spent time around chickens, a rooster without a tail is like a dog without a tail wag, it makes you stop and squint. Adrian struts around with all the bravado of a tiny tyrant, but his back end tells a different story, and katybcat is right to wonder if this little menace is actually Adriana.
Let me be honest, I love this predicament because it gets at the heart of why chickens are such wonderfully confusing creatures. At two to three months old, a rooster's comb and wattles should be getting noticeably larger, and his tail feathers should be sprouting into that proud, curved arch that says, "I am the boss of this coop." But you know what's also true? Some hens grow up to be bold little bruisers, especially if they've got a lot of personality and no competition. Adrian's behavior alone, the chasing, the posturing, isn't a dead giveaway. I have known hens who could out-terrorize any rooster, particularly when they are young and testing boundaries. So the tail is the tell, and without it, we are left guessing. That is the maddening part. You cannot just ask the chicken.
If a reader brought this question to me at a backyard barbecue, because that is exactly the kind of conversation I love having, I would say this: wait. Just wait. Within the next month or so, nature will stop playing games. If Adrian is a rooster, those saddle feathers and hackle feathers will start to get long and pointy, and he will eventually crow, probably at five in the morning, right outside your bedroom window. If he is a hen, the tail will stay modest, and the chasing may calm down once she figures out her place in the pecking order. Either way, you have a bird with a personality big enough to make the dog run, and that is something to laugh about. For now, enjoy the chaos. And if Adrian turns out to be Adriana, you get to rename her and tell the story forever. That is the kind of fowl play we can all get behind.