My Easter Egger takes herself for a roo

[itgns]

Okay, so I'm not even quite 100% she's not a roo. But her comb isn't coming in as fast as my actual Roo's is and he's two weeks younger than her. 5 out of 6 of them are 5 weeks this Monday. The Easter Egger is probably about two weeks older than that.

But the two of them pick fights a lot. And she's the one who does the warning call when a hawk flies overhead or if anything spooks them. She'll be the one to tilt her head up and look at the sky and everyone else including the roo cowers.

Is this normal? Will the "chief chicken" sometimes be one of the ladies?

 

[Janet Pesaturo]

Yes, it is normal behavior even if she is a she. A rooster does not come by dominance automatically, he has to earn it. Eventually he will try to mate her, and if he is successful, she will more than likely accept his dominance. All chickens keep an eye out for predators, and all are capable of giving a warning call for hawks. This is a good thing, too, because many backyard flocks have no rooster.

She sounds like she'll end up the dominant hen in the flock, and don't be surprised if she begins to crow and "mate" the other hens if you ever lose your rooster. This is not common, but the occasional hen does that (in a flock of all hens), and those that do are still normal and can still lay eggs.

 

[Whoops]

My easter egger (hopefully) pullet takes on roosterish airs, too. She does the warnings, the calls to food, the random round everybody back up into the coop, and the frantic spooky chicken flutter when a leaf flutters. She and my Welsummer (hopefully) pullet like to chest bump and have fluffed up hackle face offs. I am assuming they are just sorting out who is the boss of the joint. They don't fight or peck at each other, so I haven't worried about it. They all huddle together on the roost at night and are seldom more than a few feet from each other when I let them out to forage.

 

[NotableNancy]

Okay, so I'm not even quite 100% she's not a roo. But her comb isn't coming in as fast as my actual Roo's is and he's two weeks younger than her. 5 out of 6 of them are 5 weeks this Monday. The Easter Egger is probably about two weeks older than that.

But the two of them pick fights a lot. And she's the one who does the warning call when a hawk flies overhead or if anything spooks them. She'll be the one to tilt her head up and look at the sky and everyone else including the roo cowers.

Is this normal? Will the "chief chicken" sometimes be one of the ladies?

Can you post a pic so the experts can see him/her and let you know what they think the sex is?

 

[itgns]

The one on the right is the Easter Egger. You can kind of see my Buff Orpington and the New Hampshire in the leaves by the roo.