Dominant hen or roo? (Meet Butter)

[CrystalAnon]

Pullet, totally. Is Butter laying yet?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I want to know what color egg Butter lays. You say she was sold as a Rainbow Egger which tells me she should lay a blue-ish or green-ish egg. You should know that "Eggers" can look like anything, they're mixed breeds, or "mutts," that don't breed true but should carry at least one gene for laying a blue egg. She could even be an olive egger.

 

[greenviolet]

Pullet, totally. Is Butter laying yet?

Sorry for the delayed reply! Butter has (to my knowledge) never laid an egg and I suspect she may be infertile due to the timing of her previous illness, which happened right at the age when she should have begun laying. We did find a "mystery egg" in the nesting box recently that we thought might have been hers, but it also may have come from another hen that lays somewhat inconsistently and may have just laid it at a later time, so we wouldn't have found it until the next day.

I have seen that it is possible for the "top hen" of the pecking order to stop laying as they take on the "rooster" role in a flock that has no rooster, and that could have happened as I do not have a rooster. Butter is definitely still at the top of the pecking order as her overall fluffiness disguises the fact that she is not actually the largest hen, and hasn't crowed for weeks. She is living her best freeloading life as boss chicken and we love her

 

[Beau plus penny]

what kind of cross is she beilefielder x wyandotte or maybe buff sussex x wyandotte

maybe lemon cuckoo somewhere

 

[greenviolet]

I want to know what color egg Butter lays. You say she was sold as a Rainbow Egger which tells me she should lay a blue-ish or green-ish egg. You should know that "Eggers" can look like anything, they're mixed breeds, or "mutts," that don't breed true but should carry at least one gene for laying a blue egg. She could even be an olive egger.

Sorry for the delayed reply!

Butter has to my knowledge never laid an egg and I suspect she may be infertile due to the timing of her previous illness, which occurred right at the age when she should have started laying. We did find a "mystery egg" in the nesting box we thought might have been hers recently, but then realized it also might have come from another hen who is a somewhat inconsistent egg layer, and so the egg might have just been missed until the next day.

I've seen that the "top chicken" of the pecking order can stop laying as they take on the "rooster" role in a flock, so that may have happened for Butter as well--she is still the top chicken, but hasn't crowed in weeks now.

I am 99% certain Butter is a barred rock/buff orpington mix as she is incredibly fluffy and has some barring on her feathers, and her inner feathers are gray and almost all softly barred. I think she is a beautiful chicken
She is currently living her best freeloading life as the "boss chicken" of the flock and we love her.

 

[Beau plus penny]

This is Butter In this picture, Butter is 5 months and one week old. Sold as a "rainbow egger" but from searching the internet, I am fairly certain is a Barred Rock and Buff Orpington combo (hatchery has both breeds). The dark brown chicken in the background is a hen of the same age, also sold as a "rainbow egger" but is certainly not the same breeds.

Butter has recently re-taken the top pecking spot over the last 2 weeks after overcoming serious illness lasting just as long that required separation from the flock, and is very much back to usual self. Re-integration was slightly delayed after another chicken, who had taken the top spot while Butter was away, went on the attack and they had to remain separated. This chicken has since been "pecked down" several times, the most recent of which was yesterday.

And then today..Butter crowed 4 or 5 times this morning. But my confusion lies in the fact that Butter has no rooster saddle feathers or sickle feathers, even at now almost 6 months old. The saddle feathers are exactly the same shape as another hen's, but fluffier. They are not thin or sleek in a "waterfall."

Neighbors less than a quarter mile away have at least 2 but possibly 3 roosters that all my chickens have heard crowing daily ever since they moved out into the coop months ago. So, there has been plenty of time before now to hear or imitate crowing.

Chat GPT says that based on all the characteristics Butter has and that another hen was "pecked down" yesterday, the crowing is a display from a very dominant and confident (soon to be) hen, despite the young age. There are no other mature rooster behaviors I have seen: no tidbits, no dancing, and is just as likely as the hens to chase squirrels or birds or to run away. Butter "resource guards" access to me from other hens when i come in to clean the run, and sometimes steals from other hens or the one hen that has tried to take the top spot.


View attachment 4202271


This picture is Butter at 5 months:
View attachment 4202286

and this is the saddle at around 4 months:
View attachment 4202288

Even today, at almost 6 months, the saddle feathers do not look like rooster saddle feathers at all. I have seen that Buff Orpingtons mature later than other breeds, and combined with the illness, it can explain why there is no laying happening. But in looking at pictures of roosters of these two breeds at the same age, I'd have thought there would be obvious saddle and sickle feathers by now.

So, is Butter just a very confident and dominant pullet, or does my dude look like a lady?

EDIT: Here is Butter in the preferred position, sleeping on a person, at 5 months old:
View attachment 4202314

what hatchery did you get her from

 

[greenviolet]

what hatchery did you get her from

Edit to add: The hatchery does not have Buff sussex chicks, but she does look very similar to one! They are lovely! Maybe the hatchery has them secretly? The hatchery does have Buff Brahmas, and she could be mixed with that as well or in place of the buff orpington.

She was a Rural King straight-run bin chick, sold as a "rainbow egger" (which I believe is just a "we don't know what these are" mixed breed label). I think Rural King gets their chicks from Hoover's Hatchery.

I am 99% certain she is a barred rock/buff orpington mix because she is SO fluffy, has the golden feathers, and has some barring on her outer feathers, and all her inner gray feathers are softly barred as well. She is also very friendly and gentle around people, she'd probably live in the house with us if we let her There could totally be a third breed in there as well.

I did see another picture of a hen that could have been her twin on an old post from this site and the author said her hen was almost certainly a barred rock/buff orpington.