I have heard of that before, not sure if it works as I think all of mine 'fanned their tail feathers" (supposedly a hen protective instinct thing). Be interesting to see how it works out.Soooooo.....I have a question/survey to start off the day.
When I went to get the Langshan pair the seller claimed
they were 2 hens.
RF and I look over the first bird and agree it's a hen.
We look over the second bird and tell the seller this one
is a young roo. Of course the seller asks us why we think
this and we show her the saddle feathers starting to come in
and the hackle feathers that are starting to be pointy.
She says " No, it's a hen. Let me show you a trick an old man showed me.
He has had chickens for a long time."
While holding the bird around the body with the wings held against
the body, she flips the bird so it's head is pointing to the ground
and butt is up. When she does this the birds tail flips over so you
see vent and the bird spreads it's tail. She said that if the bird spreads
out/fans the tail, that means it's a hen. Of course this bird did exactly that
when she flips him over, spreads the tail out like a fan. "It's a hen" she says.
We again tell her all the roo characteristics it has to include the
pointy saddle feathers and hackles, how the tail does not split in the middle
like the hen and the large red comb and wattles means it's a roo.
I told her I'd still buy him but not at hen prices.
My question is have any of you heard of this tail spread trick to sex chickens?
Has it worked for you reliably ?
Happy Mother's Day to all!
