Manly girl? Dominance/characteristics

[sloanbychoice]

Hey guys!
So, I have a leghorn lady who is my top dog. She’s the only one left from my first batch. She rules the other sixteen hens very well. She has always been dominant and makes sure the others are in line.

She’s always had a prominent single comb and normal wattles.
During her first molt, which was dreadful, as it was a hard molt, she lost so many feathers and her comb, wattles, and legs got so pale, I was really worried about her. It took forever for her to bounce back from it.
Once she did, her comb stood up like never before, turned bright red again, and her wattles are now huge and red. She puts my other leghorn to shame.
When I look at her now, I just get lost in her changes. And she came out of it more dominant than before. A little bit of a bully, actually. Nothing bloody by any means, but really pushes them around.

I was just wondering if it’s normal for leghorns to do this? Is it her breed? Is it just her? I mean, obviously it is what it is.
I lover her and she’s just who she is.
Just curious about this.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Combs enlarge and color up as hormones surge and hens come back into production. They shrink down when birds go out of production.

Hormones can make birds moody. Leghorns in general are considered a more busy breed, so they can be more demonstrative than more mellow breeds.

 

[sloanbychoice]

Thanks!!! I forgot that I had read about some correlation between hormones and combs. That makes total sense!
I appreciate it!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks!!! I forgot that I had read about some correlation between hormones and combs. That makes total sense!
I appreciate it!

Combs serve two purposes. They are used to dispense heat in hot weather, and they are a visual cue to other birds which birds are is production, and are fertile, and which aren't. Roosters should only mate hens that are currently fertile. Those out of production have pale shrunken combs, and rooster generally don't bother mating them at that time if the rooster is mature. Immature roosters may mate anything.