What Are the External Parts of a Rooster?
The most distinctive external parts of a rooster are the comb, sickle feather and cape. Roosters also have hackle feathers, saddles, wing bows and hock joints. The back claw of a rooster, called the spur, is usually larger than the corresponding part on a hen.
The comb of a chicken is the red flesh located on the top of the animal’s head. Several types of combs exist, including single combs, rose combs, pea combs and buttercup combs. One of the most distinctive types of chicken combs is the V-shaped comb. The distinctive red flesh located under a rooster’s beak is called the wattles.
A rooster’s cape is the tuft of feathers surrounding the animal’s shoulders. The saddle of a rooster is located just before the animal’s tail feathers.
Roosters have several anatomical elements that hens do not share. These include hackle feathers on their backs and sickle feathers in their tails. Like their spurs, rooster combs and wattles tend to be larger and more distinctive than those of hens. Additionally, rooster combs typically stand erect, while hen combs do not.
Other external parts of roosters shared with hens include the shank, beak, ears, eyes, wings and hocks. Rooster hackle and cape feathers tend to show distinctive characteristics that hen feathers do not.
