my 'chicken' looked oddly like a dinosaur from jurassic park!

[danaalex]

i THINK this particular bird is a cockeral. 'he' was on one side of the fence, starring down a silkie on the other side of the fence.

all of the sudden, the feathers around 'his' neck stood up in a circle! just like the dilophosaurs ( the one who gets fan like scales around his neck and then sprays the bad guy) in jurassic park!!! kinda freaked me out. none of my other chickens have done ANYTHING like this!

i "believe" this chicken/ cockeral is a Delaware mixed with something else. anyone ever have an experience like this?

thanks!

 

[Fred's Hens]

They are dinosaurs, absolutely. That is exactly what they are.

 

[Lothiriel]

It's called "getting his hackles up." In other words, the Dilophosaur lurking in your Delaware is waking up and getting mad at the Stegasaurus in your Silkie!

Sorry. It's normal male behavior.

 

[flspnr]

My Roo, Snowflake, does that thing with the neck feathers when he's about to pretend to fight with my Hen Peep (they don't fight. They get all mean looking and run close to each other and stop and walk away - weirdos.) It's the funniest look, I think!

 

[greymane]

Our four RIRs do this quite a bit. That is why we call them "the raptors"!

 

[danaalex]

ahhh! thank you! so, my guessing he's a he is a good one then?
makes perfect sense!
i thought they were going to go after each other through the fence. but the silkie just sat there and the delaware just kept "his hackles up" and walked towards the fence and back, over and over.

silly males!


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[danaalex]

that's what i wanted to say, "the raptor" part! this guy totally reminded me of the dilophosaurs in the movie though. crazy! is this ONLY seen in males??

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[AZBootsie]

Pullets and Hens will do it also. It just looks much cooler when a roo with longer Hackle feathers does it.

I love it when they open their wings just a bit, lower their head and take off running. It is like another scene out of the movie. Just so much fun to watch!!

 

[moodlymoo]

Girls do it too cause if not I have a flock of 17 roos which would explain the no eggs yet

 

[Pinky]

Roosters and hens will do it. I think it's an intimidation threat. If it works, one bird will back down from the other. If not a fight could be next. Some roosters will also do it before mating.
The dilophosaurs in Jurassic Park(along with a few others) are not all that accurate.