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[Griffinsong]

The thing with crowing hens is that,indeed, it is not uncommon, but it's pretty much almost always mature hens . Some dominant hens just do that, but they are usually old enough to at least be laying eggs[or to have laid eggs in the past] There are of course, exceptions, even to that.

I don't know who fed you the 'info' about there being no red tabby female cats, but their information is incorrect. It is, in fact, complete nonsense. Red tabby females are more uncommon than males, But it is entirely possible for a female cat to carry the red, but not the black.

Fertile male torties are also definitely possible, though they are a result of chimerism[two different genetic profiles in one organism] of a red tabby and a black tabby, and genetically only pass on one or the other color [whichever is carried in the reproductive cells].

 

[Sarahbeck]

I have a crowing hen... but she started well after she started laying eggs. There's been no trauma. It appears to be a bit of a dominance thing... and she's inconsistent (sometimes crowy sometimes not). I only figured it out because after laying for a season... my neighbor asked if I had a rooster... which clearly I do not. Fortunately... everyone thinks its fairly funny.

 

[CaptnGreever]

woahhh... this whole post made me want to hug everyone haha

some people like tomatoes, some people don't.
just like us, every chicken is different - we can read and ask and educate ourselves to the max, but the best answer is we don't know it all and anything is possible.
crow on little baby/old hen/roo, crow on!

 

[chooks4life]

The thing with crowing hens is that,indeed, it is not uncommon, but it's pretty much almost always mature hens . Some dominant hens just do that, but they are usually old enough to at least be laying eggs[or to have laid eggs in the past] There are of course, exceptions, even to that.

That's interesting, none of my crowing females were dominant. One of my banties always liked to sing along with her boyfriend, whenever he crowed she did too, lol. I've had dominant hens who mated with other hens or even males as though they were the hens, grew spurs, etc, but none of those crowed. There sure is a spectrum!

I don't know who fed you the 'info' about there being no red tabby female cats, but their information is incorrect. It is, in fact, complete nonsense. Red tabby females are more uncommon than males, But it is entirely possible for a female cat to carry the red, but not the black.

Old 'experts'. It used to be widespread and accepted knowledge, lol, backed up by science. At least in Australia, I'm finding information from other countries that has a discordant timeline. Perhaps some scientific politics were involved. Stuff like this is why I have some reserve about some 'scientific evidence' --- the world is clogged with junk science. Too many quacks in every single field producing shamelessly biased studies and quoting only what supports their preexisting belief...

I'm not 'dissing' science by that though, I love it as much as the next, but the fine print definitely needs reading, not just the clickbait titles and skewed outcome claims so many studies have.

Books written by cat breeders and so forth once supported that 'fact' about there being no ginger females but in recent years, due to obviously being incorrect, it's been dismissed. I still have some of those old books stating it as a fact, as well as other textbooks containing 'facts' (some still commonly accepted) which I know for sure are incorrect.

I only used that cat 'fact' as an example of the progress of knowledge. Much of what we think we know right now is going to be corrected in future, as it goes.

woahhh... this whole post made me want to hug everyone haha

some people like tomatoes, some people don't.
just like us, every chicken is different - we can read and ask and educate ourselves to the max, but the best answer is we don't know it all and anything is possible.
crow on little baby/old hen/roo, crow on!

lol yes, X2. Hopefully nobody's getting their feathers ruffled over our differences of experience and opinion.

A lot of people repeat the old 'as a rule, only old hormonally imbalanced females crow' line and it's just not true. Because it's always quoted verbatim or very close to it, I think they've read it in a study somewhere without reading the fine print, probably, in most cases of this 'rule' being cited.

I just read an authoritative source telling me it's 'scientifically proven that animals cannot tell what quantities of nutrients they need, if any, and so either won't eat enough or may eat too much if allowed free choice' --- and instantly I recalled a bunch of studies from likewise authoritative sources, as well as my own experience, detailing exactly why that's false, and the mechanisms by which they measure their nutrient deficit and/or intake... The actual qualifiers there are instinct levels and free choice experience, and the absence of health or mental disorders causing incorrect behavior.

I bet if I read the fine print on that study 'proving' animals can't make the right dietary decisions free-choice, I'd find that they used cage-bred and reared animals for it, and just offered them things they've never been exposed to before and then misinterpreted their lack of experience and instinct as being 'the way all animals are' and then stated it as scientific fact. And sure, technically it is, but it's still wrong, and the studies are based on flawed samples.

Best wishes to everyone, whatever their beliefs or experiences.