Cock eggs

[ivan3]

This morning I found the roo `setting' an egg in the cat litter pan we keep filled with sand/DE in the coop (for days like this 8F). I'm not sure which girl laid it, but it's a first for us and now that I've found out something about it, I'm very suspicious of the roo

Below, from left to right: Royal Palm/`Cock egg'/average Sex Link egg/Store bought model.

Below are a couple of links to more info about these (have other names...) and lots of stuff about eggs in general. For those of you who already know about the origins of `cockney', my apologies.

http://www.poultryhelp.com/oddeggs.html


http://www.mystical-www.co.uk/eggs.htm

 

[V Chic Chick]

Quote:
Never knew that! If you say cockney to me, I think of a cockney person - to be cockney, traditionally, you must be 'born within the sounds of the bells of Bow Church'. There's a fact you'll never need to know!

 

[ivan3]

Helena, thanks for filling in “the little lower layer” (to quote Melville whilst maintaining a chook theme). This daft yank never thought of cockney as being more than an accent not often heard in the House Of Lords.

I like your site! Your reading list, and information about battery hens reminded me of another site (found while searching out a biography of Sir J.Sebright /they list one). I expect you’re familiar with it (your bailiwick), but some folks might not be. The blog has links to the site and the books are listed under `equipment’???

http://domesticfowltrust.blogspot.com/

All the best,

John

P.S. quote is from link

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

OK, I'm totally confused. What's a roo doing anywhere close to an egg? I've never had a rooster, so I don't know a thing about their behavior relative to eggs.

So, what does it mean when a roo is setting an egg?

Ivan, you said, "I'm very suspicious of the roo". Does this mean you think he is maybe a she?

 

[ivan3]

Our roo was probably just trying to entice another one of the hens to lay her egg in that location and I walked in on the wooing (roos do this as a matter of course). Roos call the girls to food, let `em know where there's a good place to nest, etc. But, one of our Red Sex Link hens has spurs and crows. This is apparently not all that unusual (Helena posted a newspaper clipping of an `intersexed' chicken over on EZ - maybe she'll post it here). Apparently, if no roo is present, the hen on the top of the pecking order will often start `going roo', i.e., behaviorally.

Anyway, my tongue, as usual, was firmly attached to my cheek when I accused the roo. I IDed the egg as a `cock egg' instead of a f**t egg owing to our format (no questionable words!).

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Quote:
Wow, that wouldn't be good. I'll make sure that my hens see me as top roo so non of them start getting gender identity problems.