Ha ha, You're probably right! My orps are the sweetest birds - until food comes out! They even get pushy & will run over any chicken (even the top hen) if they stand between them & the treats. Any other time & the orps are at the bottom of the pecking order.I wasn't sure if cutting those feathers was OK. I'll give that a try. She started laying about 2 months ago. Her comb had started getting bigger since then too. She's all grown up.
She snuck under my arms while I was cleaning the cage today and made a bee line for the left over wet cat food.I think she's been planning that all day! A little extra protein couldn't hurt
Quote: Sounds like she will be fine!
The hens can bump chests just like the boys. The comb/wattle development & feather patterns are usually how one can differentiate early roos. Try posting pics on some maran threads & see if anyone who raises the breed can help. You could also send a pic to the breeder who sold you the eggs. He/she will know about the particular line & may be able to tell easily. (I was so glad I did this with my Coro Sussex. I was so sure the early pink comb meant male, but in his bloodlines all females had pink combs and the males grew giant reddened combs by 5 weeks.
She is beautiful! I hope I have as much luck. I did post to a maran thread and received mixed reviews. But I never thought of emailing where I got them from. Thanks againThe hens can bump chests just like the boys. The comb/wattle development & feather patterns are usually how one can differentiate early roos. Try posting pics on some maran threads & see if anyone who raises the breed can help. You could also send a pic to the breeder who sold you the eggs. He/she will know about the particular line & may be able to tell easily. (I was so glad I did this with my Coro Sussex. I was so sure the early pink comb meant male, but in his bloodlines all females had pink combs and the males grew giant reddened combs by 5 weeks.
Here's Hope at 5 1/2 weeks. Can you see how I'd think male?
Here she's 22 weeks. Finally, I believed she was a female.
Today at 6 months, a big fluffy pullet
People say that all the time. but I find that chickens are way more hearty than that. When it gets down below 0 it's too hard to keep their water from freezing and to clean the coop. Instead, during the cold snap a couple weeks ago I brought them into the basement at night (65 degrees) then back to the outdoor coop and run in the daytime (below 0 F) so they could romp and get some natural light. I did that for a week, they loved it. In fact, when I wasn't doing that (when it was 10 degrees) they'd spend all day inside the huddled up and hunkered down in coop and not go in the run. They weren't eating or drinking. When I had them in the basement at night, they'd spend all day out in the run and not hiding inside their coop.
