I know both parents. What is the gender?

[TheOddOneOut]

She’s not purebred Ameraucana, and she looks ill.

 

[Lizzy733]

I had a Dorking named olive whose nickname was goose, so yes chickens absolutely can honk. It was very endearing.

Has she ever been caught preening? Have you checked her preen gland to see if it is working? If you mist her with water, does it bead or saturate her feathers?

Also, if she's not dust bathing, I'd check her more often for mites. - that could also cause her to be uncomfortable. - head twitches are a good indicator of mites - when they get around the head and start bothering them.

That pic does make her look ill. What was her hatching situation? Incubator, broody? Maybe incubation issues could explain the odd proportions you've mentioned and other oddities.

 

[Coops Dad]

I've got a pullet similar to that. Shea healthy as any other one, but small and always looks like she's feeling bad, even though she's not. Are her parents closely related? Mine I think is just too inbred to be a good looking bird unfortunately

I got her father from a breeder about 30 miles south of here- a gorgeous bird with a huge beard and muffs- and bought her mother from a different breeder at a bird fair about 70 miles north. I guess it's possible they could be related but not as related as most British royalty and they turned out (mostly) fine.

 

[Coops Dad]

She’s not purebred Ameraucana, and she looks ill.

Her mom n pop are both pure Ameracaunas and she came from a clutch of their eggs gathered at least 6 months into their segregation. She's not ill; she's been the odd bird since the day she hatched. I've never seen her pick at a feather, preen, dustbathe... she's as active as any other chicken I have and seems well adjusted and sociable. She's one of two very friendly hens in this flock, very eager to be picked up and hand fed little treats.

 

[Coops Dad]

I had a Dorking named olive whose nickname was goose, so yes chickens absolutely can honk. It was very endearing.

Has she ever been caught preening? Have you checked her preen gland to see if it is working? If you mist her with water, does it bead or saturate her feathers?

Also, if she's not dust bathing, I'd check her more often for mites. - that could also cause her to be uncomfortable. - head twitches are a good indicator of mites - when they get around the head and start bothering them.

That pic does make her look ill. What was her hatching situation? Incubator, broody? Maybe incubation issues could explain the odd proportions you've mentioned and other oddities.

Her oil gland is working, I just checked it. There's a dark patch of dust on her feathers over it and it seems to express properly- I rubbed it and came away with slightly oily fingers. And no, water doesn't bead on her feathers, she gets soaked. I know she doesn't go out of the tractor shed when it's wet out and she's the reason the feeder is in the tractor shed.

No head bobbing or shaking. I check regularly for mites and haven't had a problem with them. I dust their bedding with a smidge of permethrin when I change it, and I add diatomaceous earth in their dust bath depressions whenever I think of it. Yeah, I know how some people feel about DE.

She's an incubator chick, that hatch went 19 for 22 and she's the only oddity out of it. I've had a couple of small chickens over the years but this one is the first one with, you know, ODDness.

She looks depressed/ill in that pic but she's almost always moving so this is the only still shot I have of her where she's not a blur. She runs back and forth under my feet until I pick her up and carry her around as I do my chores.

This is also her.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I got her father from a breeder about 30 miles south of here- a gorgeous bird with a huge beard and muffs- and bought her mother from a different breeder at a bird fair about 70 miles north. I guess it's possible they could be related but not as related as most British royalty and they turned out (mostly) fine.

Hmm, yeah. My one I have her dad is on her pedigree for about every male on the female side too, so she's pretty darn close to being related to herself only

 

[cherrynberry]

Her oil gland is working, I just checked it. There's a dark patch of dust on her feathers over it and it seems to express properly- I rubbed it and came away with slightly oily fingers. And no, water doesn't bead on her feathers, she gets soaked. I know she doesn't go out of the tractor shed when it's wet out and she's the reason the feeder is in the tractor shed.

No head bobbing or shaking. I check regularly for mites and haven't had a problem with them. I dust their bedding with a smidge of permethrin when I change it, and I add diatomaceous earth in their dust bath depressions whenever I think of it. Yeah, I know how some people feel about DE.

She's an incubator chick, that hatch went 19 for 22 and she's the only oddity out of it. I've had a couple of small chickens over the years but this one is the first one with, you know, ODDness.

She looks depressed/ill in that pic but she's almost always moving so this is the only still shot I have of her where she's not a blur. She runs back and forth under my feet until I pick her up and carry her around as I do my chores.

This is also her.

She looks much better here. And she does look like a pure Ameraucana from what can be seen. Such a sweetheart

 

[MadamContrary]

Sometimes you just get an odd bird. I'd definitely guess pullet at 7 months, however other growth factors could delay maturity in a male.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Her mom n pop are both pure Ameracaunas and she came from a clutch of their eggs gathered at least 6 months into their segregation. She's not ill; she's been the odd bird since the day she hatched. I've never seen her pick at a feather, preen, dustbathe... she's as active as any other chicken I have and seems well adjusted and sociable. She's one of two very friendly hens in this flock, very eager to be picked up and hand fed little treats.

Are her parents both the same coloration?

 

[Coops Dad]

Hmm, yeah. My one I have her dad is on her pedigree for about every male on the female side too, so she's pretty darn close to being related to herself only

I have a friend who has a farm that's so remote that all the cats living there are descended from the original pair his ex-wife brought with them 30 years ago. She left, but without the cats. Coyotes routinely take stragglers so the cat population stays pretty consistent. That said, the shallow gene pool means oddities abound; supernumerary toes, kinked/abbreviated tails, folded ears, etc. He gives them classic British royalty names.

It's also very entertaining to hear him say stuff like "King Charles, stop mounting your grandsister! She's of your sister's third litter with your brother's son! Your nephson's daughter! YOU ARE RELATED TOO MANY TIMES! STOP IT!!!"

I've counseled him to start a TNR campaign but he's still relying on the coyotes to be the eventual solution.