Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[Fancychooklady]

Good morning folks 

Good luck with the hatch Sparky!  So sorry to hear of your losses 

Nice to see you again Corrie.  I am pleased your goats are safe but so sorry to hear about your chicken loss also  LOL Dances with Wolves has competition .. Sleeps With Chickens! 

Anniebee my understanding is the ACV interferes with the calcium absorption in the hotter weather which is why it is recommended to withhold on really hot days.  As you may know, I put ACV in the water on every change [daily] but I do withhold it on the really hot days.  No dramas with soft shelled eggs except when Dusty is moulting.

Good to hear that Mandy is still a happy chookie and coping with her issues.

Well, we do appear to be dealing with a case of GCD!

Remember the morning we thought we were going to lose Dusty because she could not breathe?  She was attempting to crow that morning.

Then, as mentioned, she woke us up at 5AM the other morning, attempting to crow. 

The other day I saw her call Crystal over for some treats and she promptly grabbed a beak full of Crystal’s neck feathers and mounted her!  Crystal fluffed up afterwards and shook herself off.  It looked like an actual rooster to hen mating.

This morning, Dusty woke us at 05:30AM attempting to crow.

My diagnosis is Gender Confused Dusty   

Hehe, I have a ' transgender ' chook too. One very large coronation Sussex, started off as ' Bertha
Bad body ' then grew very big wattles , but still no tail. Crows occasionally. Now known as ' Prince Albert ' . Loves a cuddle but not interested in the girls.

 

[Susan Hampshire]

So excited to find my mealworms eggs hatching .... thousands of them! Hurry up and grow my girls are waiting!

 

[jc219]

Hi All,
Can someone help me to understand if my 6 months old chicken is a hen or a rooster?

Please help!!

 

[satay]

Hi All,
Can someone help me to understand if my 6 months old chicken is a hen or a rooster?

Please help!!

Hi All,
Can someone help me to understand if my 6 months old chicken is a hen or a rooster?

Please help!!

Thats a for sure rooster. Hackle feathers, tail and stance it is a definite rooster.

 

[Fizzybelle]

JC219 I agree with Satay, and the big feet are also a giveaway, takes a while for the boys to grow into those big ol' stompers. Very handsome but sadly I'm guessing you'll need to rehome him? Best of luck, I know how heartbreaking that is.

Susan Hampshire, best of luck for a good hatch of mealies. I had to restock mine had dwindled, though I think some eggs have hatched now as I have little worms if I dig around in the oats. Little buggers eat a lot though! More than I thought.

 

[Susan Hampshire]

Yes they do eat heaps and love tomatoes better than carrots ...

 

[Anniebee]

Good morning folks

Good luck with the hatch Sparky! So sorry to hear of your losses

Nice to see you again Corrie. I am pleased your goats are safe but so sorry to hear about your chicken loss also

LOL Dances with Wolves has competition .. Sleeps With Chickens!

Anniebee my understanding is the ACV interferes with the calcium absorption in the hotter weather which is why it is recommended to withhold on really hot days. As you may know, I put ACV in the water on every change [daily] but I do withhold it on the really hot days. No dramas with soft shelled eggs except when Dusty is moulting.

Good to hear that Mandy is still a happy chookie and coping with her issues.

Well, we do appear to be dealing with a case of GCD!

Remember the morning we thought we were going to lose Dusty because she could not breathe? She was attempting to crow that morning.

Then, as mentioned, she woke us up at 5AM the other morning, attempting to crow.

The other day I saw her call Crystal over for some treats and she promptly grabbed a beak full of Crystal’s neck feathers and mounted her! Crystal fluffed up afterwards and shook herself off. It looked like an actual rooster to hen mating.

This morning, Dusty woke us at 05:30AM attempting to crow.

My diagnosis is Gender Confused Dusty

Teila ....

Wow - did that ever get me googling. !!

1) ... what is GCD ? ( can't find anything that makes sense - referring to chickens ).

2) ... Found a site that is called "Can chickens really change gender " .... which is here : http://www.sciencefocus.com/qa/can-chickens-really-change-gender. .... This link is quite fascinating ( I found anyway ).

I am thinking that in many species ( dogs, cats, and others ) dominance is seen by one gender mounting the same gender. It is not sexually promoted.


It is a dominance thing. Female dogs will mount other dogs of either gender - ( and heaven help us - the cat as well .... true

). I will try and find a photo showing just such a thing - but it was puppy mounting cat - not a full grown dog. ( thank heaven ).

However, in the case of cattle e.g. - a cow will 'bull' ( mount ) when the cow that is mounted is coming into oestrus - thus alerting the bull to possible fun and continuation of the species. . Mind you, it is probably an effort not worth the time, as the bull would be more than alert to which cow is receptive to mating - at any time.

Chickens are ( I rather think ) different. A cockerel / rooster will mount a hen whenever he thinks he needs to - doesn't wait for signs, smells or any other pointers. I 100% suspect that a hen mounting a hen is a dominance thing only. The 'mounter' might well begin to crow ( to announce dominant male attention ) ... but it does no good. Hen cannot impregnate hen. It's funny though, as long as dominant hen, does not hurt the submitting hen.

.....

Thanks too for your comments about ACV ... and Mandy - - - - and Dusty who seems to be 'trouble' with a capital T, in your flock of darlings. She is often mentioned as getting into some kind of trouble. ( I might be wrong about that, and if so - my apologies to you ... and Dusty ).

Cheers ......

 

[Anniebee]

Hi All,
Can someone help me to understand if my 6 months old chicken is a hen or a rooster?

Please help!!

Have to say - looking very much like a rooster, as other comments here, have suggested.

Sad - he's a beautiful looking bird. ...and if you have to give him away - my best thoughts go out to you.

Best Wishes - -

 

[satay]

Teila  .... 

Wow - did that ever get me googling.  !! 

1)  ... what is GCD ?   ( can't find anything that makes sense - referring  to chickens ). 

2) ... Found a site that is called "Can chickens really change gender " .... which is here :  http://www.sciencefocus.com/qa/can-chickens-really-change-gender.  .... This link is quite fascinating ( I found anyway ).   

I am thinking that in many species ( dogs, cats, and others ) dominance is seen by one gender mounting the same gender.   It is not sexually promoted.  


It is a dominance thing.  Female dogs will mount other dogs of either gender -  ( and heaven help us - the cat as well .... true   ).   I will try and find a photo showing just such a thing - but it was puppy mounting cat - not a full grown dog.  ( thank heaven ).   

However, in the case of cattle e.g. - a cow will 'bull' ( mount ) when the cow that is mounted is coming into oestrus - thus alerting the bull to possible fun and continuation of the species. .     Mind you, it is probably an effort not worth the time, as the bull would be more than alert to which cow is receptive to mating - at any time.  

Chickens are ( I rather think )  different.   A cockerel / rooster will mount a hen whenever he thinks he needs to - doesn't wait for signs, smells or any other pointers.  I 100% suspect that a hen mounting a hen is a dominance thing only.   The 'mounter' might well begin to crow ( to announce dominant male attention ) ... but it does no good.   Hen cannot impregnate hen.   It's funny though, as long as dominant hen, does not hurt the submitting hen.  

.....

Thanks too for your comments about ACV ... and Mandy - - - - and Dusty who seems to be 'trouble' with a capital T, in your flock of darlings.  She is often mentioned as getting into some kind of trouble.   ( I might be wrong about that, and if so - my apologies to you ... and Dusty ).  

Cheers ...... 

My ducks do it all the time. Haven't had a drake for a few years now and they are forever mounting each other. Sometimes to the point i have to drag one off another. I think it is just a dominance thing with them.

 

[satay]

I work as a chaplain at a residential aged care centre and the chicks I'm hatching (hopefully) will be for sale at our annual fete on the first Saturday in May.

Anyway we have 4 chooks at the centre, 2 ISA Brown and 2 Light Sussex. Or rather we had 4 chooks. Last week one of the Light Sussex died and this afternoon the resident who collects the eggs informed me that one of the ISA Browns had died. Sure enough when I checked the chook yard, rigor had set in and the ants had discovered the body.

There seems to be a bit of it going around at the moment but as the old farmers used to say, "if you have livestock you'll also have dead stock."

So true. It was the hardest thing for me to get used to when i first had chickens.