Our Reluctant Rooster

[the1913trio]

There is an interesting documentary that you can even watch in full on youtube called "The Private Life of Chickens", and it is fun to watch in general. But! I mention it with this cute chicken because I agree with those that said she could have a big comb due to her being mixed as well as perhaps having a bit of chimera. In the documentary they talk about hens that were fully female until one (or both) of their ovaries became damaged from some type of bump, injury, etc. Once the ovary becomes injured in a certain way it doesn't want to function well enough to make eggs, and for some unknown reason decides to go ahead and become more male instead by releasing male hormones. This particular egg laying hen in the documentary was a full fledged female for a long time, then suddenly stopped laying eggs and began to take on more of a male-like appearance, attitude, and behaviors. Ergo, is it possible for an ovary to be damaged just an eensy-weensy bit so it makes a little more male hormone than average while still being well enough to make eggs?! Eh, who knows!

With all the new things I am always learning about chickens as time goes on I am beginning to truly see why they are genetically quite close to the extinct t-rex dinosaur! They are really quirky, odd, and highly addictive creatures to have putzing about!

 

[MissCindy]

Now, since I've never had a roo, what kinds of behaviors should I be looking for? I mean, I did have two (from the same clutch as Brienne), when they were all young, but I sold them at auction once they started crowing a whole lot. Brienne often stands upright like they did, or at least much moreso that the other girls, do... and I've seen our shy little bird fly down the driveway to chase a squirrel away while no one else was even looking! Really weird! I thought that was indicative of what roosters do. I've had people say that roosters will often stand to the side while their girls eat... Brienne will some days, but not others. She tends to be the last to put her head in the mix for food, but she may dip in, walk around a bit, then dip in again from another spot. I figure that's just shy bird behavior. She does tend to stay off to one side while they all forage, or she goes off with her one little buddy, an Easter Egger named Connie. Our friend gave us both Connie and Brienne back in July, so they had to take a little time to get situated. I wish it wasn't so darned cold here! I would be able to spend a lot more time out there with them and get some of her more puzzling vocalizations recorded, too. Mostly just clucks, but sometimes these loud, awkward squawks! As it is now they get SO excited when I come out, it takes them 15 minutes just to settle down again, and by then I'm too chilled to hang out! (It's been in the high 20's mid 30's here, and I'm not good in cold anymore)

I do have a bunch of leghorns, too, btw - but their combs all flop over, which added to my confusion. They are indeed h-u-g-e combs, but all are thinner and flop to one side or another. Brienne's is thick, and stands like a little soldier! Lol! I mean, no matter what she is, I adore her! It would just be nice to know for sure! I've heard about chimeras who can still lay eggs - there was an old thread somewhere on here that is fascinating. I had no idea how different chicken biology is from ours!! You know, you think, cats, dogs, horses, all fairly similar - but chickens eggs can actually be fertilized by two different males at once!!

We might say a kid has two dads, but for chickens they really can!! I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to stuff like that. I just thought that was the coolest thing! Although, there are rare instances of chimerism in humans, too... but doesn't occur by the same means... but off topic!! Lol! I tend to ramble sometimes, sorry guys. Thank you again, for all this wonderful input! I'll forever call her a "she" now, haha!

 

[nj2wv]

She sounds like a normal hen. Those squawks may be her egg song. My jersey giant hen sounds like a goose but gives me an egg almost every day. Mine run from feeder to feeder. They all stay together but still hang out in their original hatch group.

 

[MissCindy]

She sounds like a normal hen. Those squawks may be her egg song. My jersey giant hen sounds like a goose but gives me an egg almost every day. Mine run from feeder to feeder. They all stay together but still hang out in their original hatch group.

Definitely not an egg song. She's never laid eggs before, and these are well... like she's screaming at you, kinda... I'll have to see if I can catch her doing it. They are shorter calls, not of a 'bock, bock bgack' type... more like a... oh geez, I can't even explain it! Not a normal kind of chicken speech, the others make all kinds of sounds... these are LOUD! She makes me jump sometimes lol!!

My boyfriend also pointed out that she will sound the alarm when hawks fly over, and he seems to think she guards the flock as they forage. He's had roosters before; he grew up with chickens. These are my first. I have no idea f females do this. My botfriend seems to think that no, they don't, lol.

 

[ChickenPox]

I dunno. He/She looks mighty suspect as both! Maybe it's a hermaphrodite?

 

[ChickenPox]

I"ve heard you can put drops of food coloring in thier vent to see which egg they are laying. Maybe try that just on her/him and see what happens with the eggs you are getting.

 

[MissCindy]

I"ve heard you can put drops of food coloring in thier vent to see which egg they are laying. Maybe try that just on her/him and see what happens with the eggs you are getting.

Interesting...! I'm not sure I could do that, but I'm definitely going to research it!

Also, we didn't get a 5th brown egg today, so I'm still not sure if there was just a hiccup with my Red Star hens. Time will tell... and maybe food coloring! Ha!

 

[MissCindy]

There is an interesting documentary that you can even watch in full on youtube called "The Private Life of Chickens", and it is fun to watch in general. But! I mention it with this cute chicken because I agree with those that said she could have a big comb due to her being mixed as well as perhaps having a bit of chimera. In the documentary they talk about hens that were fully female until one (or both) of their ovaries became damaged from some type of bump, injury, etc. Once the ovary becomes injured in a certain way it doesn't want to function well enough to make eggs, and for some unknown reason decides to go ahead and become more male instead by releasing male hormones. This particular egg laying hen in the documentary was a full fledged female for a long time, then suddenly stopped laying eggs and began to take on more of a male-like appearance, attitude, and behaviors. Ergo, is it possible for an ovary to be damaged just an eensy-weensy bit so it makes a little more male hormone than average while still being well enough to make eggs?! Eh, who knows!

With all the new things I am always learning about chickens as time goes on I am beginning to truly see why they are genetically quite close to the extinct t-rex dinosaur! They are really quirky, odd, and highly addictive creatures to have putzing about!

That is absolutely fascinating!! I'm huge sucker for a good documentary, too! Honestly, the more I learn about chickens, the more they sound like feathery little mutants! I'm a X-men fan, so I can totally see my flock as a little mutant band of avian superheroes! Oh geez, I might need to draw some of these (I'm an artist)!

 

[MissCindy]

Okay, just an update, it's been two days since we've gotten a 5th brown egg. To recap, we have 4 brown layers in our flock, and on Wednesday and Thursday we got 5 brown eggs!! Friday and Saturday went back to normal, though; just 4 brown eggs. This could mean that Brienne never laid an egg at all, and that some hiccup happened with our other hens. I have friends who will occasionally get an extra egg from a chicken popping out 2 in a day, so... the confusion continues, lol!

Also, my boyfriend, Joe, wanted me to put up a picture of Brienne's little spur-buds. I thought that some breeds of hens got those, but he seems to think not.

 

[krista74]

You can let Joe know that it is quite common for hens to have spur buds! I have two Buff Orpington hens who both have them - in fact, slightly bigger than those. And yes, my Buffs are definitely girls - they have both laid an egg directly into my hand! (I spend a lot of time with my chickens

!)

I have 8 laying hens, and I have to tell you that for me to get 8 eggs from 8 hens in one day is really unusual. 99.9% of hens will take a day off per week to 're-set', and it's never the same day with all of them. So on one day I might get 3 eggs, another day I might get 7, and only very occasionally will everything sync up and I get 8 from 8.

Based on that, I think that to assume that Brienne is not laying purely based on the fact that you are not getting 5 eggs per day from 5 hens might be a bit rash.

I really do think she is a she! Granted, I'm only reasonably new at this but that video shows hen behaviours, not rooster behaviours in my opinion.

It's a bit funny really, normally we have trouble convincing people that their bird is a rooster, lol.

My very best wishes to you both.

- Krista