Unfortunately that’s an AC flaw. I’ve never seen the leakage on a hen or pullet. It’s always on the boys and they don’t start to develop it until at least four to six months when they get their big boy feathers and lose the last of the baby down. In the show, and for breeding the boys with leakage are a DQ and shouldn’t be bred. But the truth is, the gene pool in the USA is so small that you roll the dice. I place these guys in pet homes (I breed and have over 100 cemani). Is the bird pictured the one with the leakage ? I’d say the one in this photo sure appears to be a pullet but if there’s leakage I’d say boy. AC hens can have really large combs sometimes. They can fool you for sure now and then with gender. More often than not it’s clear from hatch what they are but once and a while you get that confusing one. I find the disposition is a telltale sign. And the way they interact with flock mates too. But then again, hens can be super bossy. So that’s not fool proof either.He's still sitting on eggs, but looking more like a rooster these days so *thank you all* for your guidance! An interesting development here is that these little beautiful golden flecks in his feathers that are starting to appear. Any idea what could cause that? I thought it was debris, but nope
on a side note- and strictly my personal opinion, I think the boys with leakage are stunning. Maybe one day they’ll become a separate variety. I know I’m wishful thinking but one can dream. Out of about400 cemani I’ve had 4 with leakage. So in my three lines, about 1% and they only came from one too who has since passed. After his first gen clutches with the roos with leakage, we stopped breeding that line because I’m sure the hens can pass it on even if they don’t exhibit the phenotype themselves.
good luck- hen or roo- ac are fun! And unique.
. It was clear very early on that he wasn’t show or breeding quality, so being hurt and not a “sell to a pet home option” with the injured leg (I believe it was actually fractured by a dominant rooster who was a flock mate and turned on him one day despite the presence of hens in their bachelor coop). He was in really really rough shape after an afternoon of severe bullying - covered in blood (for those of you wondering- it is only a rumor that these birds have black blood - it is red. Black would be an impossibility in a warm blooded creature to the best of my knowledge. Or maybe any creature?) anyway, he was also completely immobile. Laying flat on his side. Considering he wasn’t going to be part of our breeding or exhibition program, I wondered in that moment if most people would have euthanized him. For me, it wasn’t an option especially because, although hurting, his spirits seemed high as I carefully laid him in a sink with about a half inch of warm water to assess the situation and wipe away the blood. What’s funny is every time I’m at the sink he got that very bath in over a year ago, he runs over talking a mile a minute. When I do let him take a bath you’d think he was parrot not a chicken. Anyway, without rambling to much more, I’ll say this: he’s better than a dog as far as watching the property- and better than our Shepard at scaring people off with a crow. Not sure why people are so scared of male chickens but they are. Funny thing is he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. He comes when called and would follow me through a very crowded place in an area he isn’t familiar with- without getting distracted (I tested the theory). He even knows what “no” and “down” and “come” and “get” means. And listens. And to prove how very tolerate he is, here is a picture while he entertained us while wearing a “cat saddle” (a Halloween costume for our feline pal that we never used) over Christmas. He knew everyone was fussing over him with it on so he stood there crowing so very proud ! It was great.
