After researching various chicken breeds, we carefully selected the ones we wanted to raise, including Black Australorps. We eagerly waited for months until the local farm and feed store received the chicks we were interested in from a well-known hatchery. These chicks were supposed to be vent-sexed pullets. In March, we brought them home, hopeful that we had a group of female chickens.
However, about a month ago, we noticed one of the chicks exhibiting unmistakable rooster behavior. He confidently strutted around and asserted dominance over the rest of the flock, earning the name Prince. Recently, we heard another distinct crowing sound, and this prompted us to take action. To determine the gender of the other chicks, we decided to put leg bands on the ones we weren't sure about.
To our surprise, during this process, we discovered that five of the chicks were crowing. Surprisingly, they don't resemble Prince at all; in fact, their combs resemble those of the typical Australorp hens that we've seen in photos. This has left us puzzled, as we believed hens crowed only in the absence of a dominant rooster and that crowing hens were rare occurrences. Now we wonder: what are the odds of having four crowing hens in our flock? Or did this well-known hatchery (that I won't name yet) clearly sell us straight run claiming they were sexed pullets?
However, about a month ago, we noticed one of the chicks exhibiting unmistakable rooster behavior. He confidently strutted around and asserted dominance over the rest of the flock, earning the name Prince. Recently, we heard another distinct crowing sound, and this prompted us to take action. To determine the gender of the other chicks, we decided to put leg bands on the ones we weren't sure about.
To our surprise, during this process, we discovered that five of the chicks were crowing. Surprisingly, they don't resemble Prince at all; in fact, their combs resemble those of the typical Australorp hens that we've seen in photos. This has left us puzzled, as we believed hens crowed only in the absence of a dominant rooster and that crowing hens were rare occurrences. Now we wonder: what are the odds of having four crowing hens in our flock? Or did this well-known hatchery (that I won't name yet) clearly sell us straight run claiming they were sexed pullets?
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