We hatched 28 peeps around May 20 2015 and 23 survived our newbie mistakes (moisture buildup...respiratory illness).
At 3 months we were confident that all the roos were plain to see so we advertised them in the local Valley Trader.
We kept what we thought we 13 hens and 2 roos. Cut to 5 months of age and one of the hens started getting bigger than the others and then developing sickle feathers. I read on this site that it can happen when there is a hormone imbalance. Now today, my fiancé thinks he laid an egg. I'm hoping it was the hen that was also around that area that maybe came back when honey accidentally chased her up. Bruci (the name of the roo that I named after Bruce Jenner), was on the nest and came back after honey chased him away. He's definitely on the bottom of the roo pecking order and even has hens pick fights with him. I'm hoping he didn't actually lay the egg. That would be strange but many strange things happen here. His comb and waddles are the same size as the hens, I don't think he's crowed yet and I can't remember if I've seen spurs developing on him or not. I will check in the morning for sure. This all happened about 20 minutes before I left for my night shift job.
Thoughts?
At 3 months we were confident that all the roos were plain to see so we advertised them in the local Valley Trader.
We kept what we thought we 13 hens and 2 roos. Cut to 5 months of age and one of the hens started getting bigger than the others and then developing sickle feathers. I read on this site that it can happen when there is a hormone imbalance. Now today, my fiancé thinks he laid an egg. I'm hoping it was the hen that was also around that area that maybe came back when honey accidentally chased her up. Bruci (the name of the roo that I named after Bruce Jenner), was on the nest and came back after honey chased him away. He's definitely on the bottom of the roo pecking order and even has hens pick fights with him. I'm hoping he didn't actually lay the egg. That would be strange but many strange things happen here. His comb and waddles are the same size as the hens, I don't think he's crowed yet and I can't remember if I've seen spurs developing on him or not. I will check in the morning for sure. This all happened about 20 minutes before I left for my night shift job.
Thoughts?