Cockerels

[Mike26726]

I have one americauna cockerel that I am sure of. I originally had 3 but rehomed the other two. Then I decided to replace with 4 pullets. It appears that 2 of the 4 based on their peacombs are cockerels. However my question is. Why is my original cockerel breeding the other suspected cockerels? Is this normal behavior?

 

[All Ball]

do you mean trying to breed? I have certainly seen my lead cockerel riding around on his brothers back... I think they just get kind of Randy.

 

[Mike26726]

He definitely tried breeding him. I wasn't sure if it was normal behavior. The 2 I suspect to be cockerels have the 3 rows of peacombs and are already turning red compared to the 2 girls I have. Looks like I will be sending the 2 new cockerels off to a new home.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The mating behavior is not just about sex, it’s also about dominance. The one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. You will sometimes see this behavior in an all-hen flock. The dominant hen will sometimes “mate” another lesser ranked hen to show she is dominant. It’s not real real common but it is not unusual.

 

[Mike26726]

The mating behavior is not just about sex, it’s also about dominance. The one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. You will sometimes see this behavior in an all-hen flock. The dominant hen will sometimes “mate” another lesser ranked hen to show she is dominant. It’s not real real common but it is not unusual.

Thank you for the insight

 

[rides2far]

You might want to post some pictures of your suspect Roos on what breed/gender forum. One of my EE pullets has a big red comb with 3 rows of peas. I'm sure she's a girl at 5 months of age. No crowing & I get 4 blue/green eggs from 4 EE chickens

 

[Mike26726]

I will do that later today.

 

[mymilliefleur]

X2 -- Definitely post a picture, the three row rule is not that accurate, so it's very possible that all your suspects are pullets.

 

[Mike26726]

I sure hope so. They don't show any other features of being cockerels to me. My last cockerels were already showing more features. They are 18 weeks old now. I'll put them up shortly