crowing roosters

[SoccerMomof7]

What kind of chicken is in that pic?

 

[ososchicken]

Quote:
I will get pictures of the fertilized eggs. We are definitely not talking about blood spots. We have had a couple of those and I had a debate with my mother on those at Christmas time. She was convinced we were giving her fertilized eggs. No, these that we have now are the classic blastoderm - white spot with a faint ring around it.

My wife actually found the developing chick. She was shocked and threw it away. I did not believe her so I climbed into the trash and recovered it. It was about 6-10 days along and was long skinny and white. It had a couple dark spots at the head end as well as a stiff to hard area that I assumed was the head and beak forming. I did not get pictures. We are at a complete loss at how it was able to develop.

We are watching closer to see if we catch him mating. We figure that will be all the proof we need. So far, we think he has tried to get close to some of the hens. He came in the last group of ten that we got and it was just recently that the original 30 or so started accepting the newcomers. Unfortunately for him, I have the next two days off and have designated him as my weekend project! I sure hope we have a quiet rooster! I have failed at trying to convince my family that a rooster would be a good addition. The ONLY objection we ever had was the noise.

 

[SoccerMomof7]

How loud can 1 rooster be compared to 40 chickens? I have never had chickens and I have 5 chickens and 1 rooster, you make me think that maybe I made a mistake. Good luck with your rooster situation, I am curious on what you find out.

 

[mmajw]

I have a Ameracuana Roo and he is real loud even some nights, I think his clock is broken.

 

[JustChicky]

Ososchicken, a couple months ago I read this on the University of Florida website about a hen turning into a rooster and thought this part was strange "There are reports of these ovotestes producing semen capable of fathering offspring." Here is the whole section.

How does sex reversal occur?
Most cases of spontaneous sex reversal are the result of a disease condition which has resulted in damage to the left ovary. Typically, female chickens only have one functional ovary, the left one. The right ovary and oviduct are present in the embryonic stages of all birds, but typically do not develop in chickens.
In general, spontaneous sex reversal has been described as the result of pathological conditions (e.g., ovarian cyst or tumor, diseased adrenal glands) which cause the left ovary to regress. Residual tissue in the right ovary proliferates in the absence of a functional left ovary. This regenerated right gonad is known as an ovotestis and may contain tissue characterisitics of the ovary, the testes, or both. There are reports of these ovotestes producing semen capable of fathering offspring. Most, however, will never lay an egg or sire offspring.

The "ovotestes" are steroidogenically functional and secret androgens, as well as estrogen. As a result, the bird develops male secondary characteristics. So while the bird is genotypcially female, it will be phenotypically male.​

 

[ososchicken]

*JustChicky* :

Ososchicken, a couple months ago I read this on the University of Florida website about a hen turning into a rooster and thought this part was strange "There are reports of these ovotestes producing semen capable of fathering offspring." Here is the whole section.

How does sex reversal occur?
Most cases of spontaneous sex reversal are the result of a disease condition which has resulted in damage to the left ovary. Typically, female chickens only have one functional ovary, the left one. The right ovary and oviduct are present in the embryonic stages of all birds, but typically do not develop in chickens.
In general, spontaneous sex reversal has been described as the result of pathological conditions (e.g., ovarian cyst or tumor, diseased adrenal glands) which cause the left ovary to regress. Residual tissue in the right ovary proliferates in the absence of a functional left ovary. This regenerated right gonad is known as an ovotestis and may contain tissue characterisitics of the ovary, the testes, or both. There are reports of these ovotestes producing semen capable of fathering offspring. Most, however, will never lay an egg or sire offspring.

The "ovotestes" are steroidogenically functional and secret androgens, as well as estrogen. As a result, the bird develops male secondary characteristics. So while the bird is genotypcially female, it will be phenotypically male.
​

huh. That is some crazy stuff! I am going to have to do some more web searching I guess. Would sex reversal produce spur buds? I am going to get some pictures of the bird in question today and will hopefully get them posted asap.​

 

[SoccerMomof7]

Did you ever find the rooster?

 

[ososchicken]

I am at a loss! All the birds look like hens and act like hens. We have about 40% fertilized eggs though. I had another chicken farmer look at what I thought were fertile eggs, and he agreed with me. I tried to get some pictures to post here, but could not get the eggs to show up without too much glare. The one I thought could be a rooster is just too hen like and I don't think it is that one. Of all 38 birds, only one leg horn has the possibility of having pointy-er tail feathers. Unfortunately, they were shredded before we got her. I doubt it is one of the leg horns though because we routinely have 7 white eggs with only 7 white layers in our flock. So, since I cannot get the pics to show up for more advice here, I think I might try to get one of our broody hens to sit on a bunch so I can candle them later. That way if it was from before we got the birds, I have a chance of hatching some. Any other thoughts? I am pretty frustrated right now. Oh yeah - after two days of working around the birds and watching them very close, there was no mating activity what-so-ever!