Recent content by AliceSaurus

She turned out to be a great layer! She and the other two were taken by a raccoon in March and it really broke my heart :( Her name was Buffy and she was always bigger than the other two and was the last one to start laying. She was also the sweetest, friendliest, and quirkiest of the bunch. She...

Welp, just checking in to update on my mystery bird. I guess my big buff orpington is probably a hermaphrodite (I think the technical term is mosaic gynandromorph). 28 weeks old and not one egg even though its comb and wattles have big huge and bright red for 3 months now, but not a single crow...

My barred rock is on a roll! 7 eggs in the 8 days she's been laying, 2 of which have been double yolks. She's the best pet, too. All the work raising them is finally paying off in a big way :D

Oh yeah, and of course they have a ramp up to the coop door. I used an old flower planter that had slats on the bottom.

Here's the DIY mess I came up with on the fly. This was my first time using power tools and lumber. Everything together was under $150 including paint, hardware, fence, and gate. Since taking this photo (it was their first time in there) I have added taller fencing (using PVC pipe to extend the...

I sure hope you're correct! I didn't expect the chickens to grow on me as much as they have. It would be a shame to have to part with one so soon, especially when it has been such a good bird that I nursed back to health.

Thanks so much for your detailed reply! I am aware of what hackle, cape, saddle, and sickle feathers look like on a fully grown rooster but am clueless as to WHEN I can spot them - without question - on a growing chicken. Mine will be 22 weeks tomorrow so is it safe to say that the unmistakably...

The smaller buff just has a tiny version of the big one's comb. Single with 5 points. They didn't start to look really different from one another until about 8 weeks ago.

These two threads have plenty of photos of the combs Http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/898162/11wk-buff-orpington-sickle-feathers#post_14014365 https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/920644/my-3-chickens-ate-an-egg-together-what-to-do#post_14015149 Here are the two orps together

Thanks for your input :) I'll try to catch them later to look closer for signs of being male. So far, the three chickens are all the same size. The suspected roo seems a little more dense, if that makes sense. Slightly thicker legs but not tree trunks. HUGE comb and wattles but I read somewhere...

Some excitement here this evening! I have been waiting impatiently for a sure sign that one of my buff orpingtons is either male or female. Tonight at sundown I heard the suspected rooster making a VERY loud call, over and over, and wanted to see if it was finally crowing. I ran out and the...

Here's the same bird at 21 weeks old... looking like a rooster but acting like a hen :/

Just for comparison, this is the girl who laid the egg, and she also has very large comb and wattles and is the dominant one of the three.

Another:

Thanks for your reply! I am concerned about a fertilized egg because roosters are illegal where I live. And so far, I have no definitive evidence that my suspect bird is a male, so i thought a fertilized egg would solve the mystery. It has huuuge comb and wattles compared to the other buff...