Americauna Crowing Hen or Rooster?

[idahochicka]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I was snuggled in bed this morning cuddled up to my 2 month old little girl when out of the blue I heard something odd from the coop. We live in the city and cant have a rooster. We have two 3 month old Americauna pullets that are roaming free in the back yard and I thought 'Oh NO!' one must be a Roo! When I rushed outside to see where all the clammering was coming from at 5:30am the 2 little pullets where snuggled up to one another in their box. It was my 3 year old daughters 5 month old Americauna 'Berry' our lap chicken. She (or so we thought) had her beak pointed to the sky cock-a-doodle-dooing! 'Berry' had never cock-a-doodle-dooed till today. Can a hen do that? Or am I going to just have to face the fact that this chicken will not be laying any colored eggs?[/FONT]

 

[donrae]

We are in a similar situation. It just dawned on me that one of our 5 month old americaunas (or EE?) is a boy. He/She has a dark pink comb, is larger, and has always been more aggressive, and stands off to the side when I bring treats out (letting the ladies eat first?). A few days ago, he bit down on a barred rock's neck and mounted her. Finally, today, he looked directly at me and cock-a-doodle-dood! What are your expert opinions? And should I worry about fertilized eggs? We have 10 chickens altogether and 4 are laying. The picture below was from 2 months ago.

Yep, this is a rooster. You'll have fertilized eggs, but so do many folks here. Embryos don't start developing until the egg had been incubated at 100 degrees for a few days. Just collect your eggs every day or so and you'll have no problems. I've had roosters with my laying flock for 20 years and never had a nasty surprise when I cracked an egg.

 

[A Chicken Owner]

The chicken pictured is certainly a roo

 

[A Chicken Owner]

And he might be an EE but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[idahochicka]

OH POOP! My little girl is going to be so upset She has raised this .... guy. He is so tame he sits on our laps. I wonder why the other girls in the coop are so mean to him?

 

[idahochicka]

Is it safe to assume that 'Black Head' my daughters other Americauna is a Roo as well? We purchased these two after one of her others tragically met my inlaws dog. They as well where "sexed" when we got them. Geesh! I am not having luck with this breed! If it is in fact a Roo that might explain why Berry chases it around trying to peck its eyes out.

 

[A Chicken Owner]

The chicken in the last pic is a roo

 

[K Spot]

You have Easter Eggers, and yes, the one in the first pic is a roo.

The second looks to be one as well. Sorry!

 

[idahochicka]

Boo

That is it! NO more buying birds from Craigslist! Is this a breed that is harder to sex then others? I was told that Silkies are hard to sex however I purchased three 6 week old chicks from a man in town who rubbed the combs and sexed them. They all turned out to be hens just as he said. I re-homed them after they got broody.... all 3 of them at the same time. The girls have to earn their keep around here.

 

[A Chicken Owner]

Easter Eggers are harder to sex than other breeds and if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for the three of then?