New(ish) Member

[rjohns39]

Hi Marilyn and welcome back to BYC We're so happy you've decided to re-join us

 

[misspea78]

Hello, Marilyn, and welcome back to BYC! Nice to meet you.
I'm sorry but my advice is to try to rehome Chico. Not everyone wants to eat them. I've rehomed three boys and all went on to become flock leaders. Keeping him for protection is not a very good reason as they can't really protect against much more than another rooster. They can sound predator alerts to give the hens a chance to get to shelter but that's usually all.
With a toddler in the mix, there is too much risk.
I've been working with my rooster for over a year and he still flogs me from time to time.
BTW, if your son thought the Leghorn's eyes reminded him of blueberries... probably not a Leghorn! This is a Leghorns eye.
View attachment 2082889

Haha, I'm not sure how much they REALLY look(ed) like blueberries. My son has an interesting way of seeing things! So my Blueberry is only 18 weeks old but she is definitely NOT this bright white. Like a dingier whitish beige. And her comb is so much tinier and not red-red. I'll post a pic.

 

[misspea78]

Thank you everyone for your feedback and warm welcomes. I am going to re-home Chico. I just can't risk my children getting hurt. I want them to interact with/help with the chickens and I they don't know how to prevent attacks. I would never forgive myself if he got their faces. I think I found someone who will take him, and they won't eat him.

I have pics here of my chickens and the first three eggs. Now that I look at this pic, she DOES look like a leghorn. But none of the eggs are white?! Could all the eggs be from the red cross hen? Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[sourland]

Good move on the rooster. They are partially obscured, but the earlobes on the white hen appear to be red. If so she is not a leghorn.

 

[misspea78]

Good move on the rooster. They are partially obscured, but the earlobes on the white hen appear to be red. If so she is not a leghorn.

Oh, interesting. I’ll look up what exactly the earlobe is on a chicken LOL. What do you think she could be then?

 

[Miss Lydia]

~Welcome to BYC~ Beautiful eggs and chickens!

 

[chickenE]

Your chickens are lovely!

 

[chrissynemetz]

Hi Marilyn! Welcome back! It's nice to meet you! I think Blueberry is possibly a Leghorn mix. She's very pretty! I have a soft spot for Leghorns
And I think re-homing Chico is probably the best idea. Roosters can be a real challenge
Congratulations on your first eggs btw!

 

[misspea78]

Hi Marilyn! Welcome back! It's nice to meet you! I think Blueberry is possibly a Leghorn mix. She's very pretty! I have a soft spot for Leghorns
And I think re-homing Chico is probably the best idea. Roosters can be a real challenge
Congratulations on your first eggs btw!

Thank you. Blueberry is a sweetheart. She hatched from a brown egg, and they came from a farm, from a student. The student told me they have Red Cross and Leghorns there. If a Leghorn and Red Cross mated, would brown eggs result? Logically, I am thinking the hen would have to be the Red Cross for the egg to be brown, but I don't know if that's how it works. In any case, I assumed she was Leghorn, forgetting about her own egg having been brown - I looked back at pictures to confirm. Then someone here pointed out she seems to have red earlobes, and Leghorns have white. I looked at her, at the pics I have taken, and I think they are red. I'm going to post her pic in the forum asking for breeds to see what the consensus is there. I've read Leghorns are more flighty of a breed. What's your experience with them? She's certainly quick, but she is the first to come up to us and she just has this really curious way about her. She's super fun to watch explore.

And as much as it was hard to let Chico go - especially on my 7 year old son - I know it was the right thing to do. Since he bit me, I was not allowing my kids to let them out and play with them because I just didn't trust him. My two year old daughter is strong-willed and too brave for her own safety sometimes and I can only imagine the damage he could inflict on her if he got to her face! Also, it seemed like he was breeding with Blueberry an awful lot, and she didn't seem super into it. He would do it right in front of us, which I read is him showing his dominance. Would that mean that she is the less-superior of the two hens? I'd never seen him mate with the other hen. As much as it would have been cool to get fertile eggs, I know this is the best thing. The hens will be so much easier to interact with and handle now without him being all over-protective of them!

 

[chrissynemetz]

Leghorns are a bit on the flighty side yes, but if you spend much time with them they calm down pretty easy.