one female coturnix...never lays an egg

[TheRealTimShady]

ok i finally got a photo of her with my nikon

this is a close-up of her face(sorry about the empty space) she looks much darker then all the others, like some Tibetan or something is in there

 

[animal8]

Quote:
She looks quite rust coloured on her chest, I notice. Does she behave any differently to the other hens?

 

[TheRealTimShady]

not at all, she is a little smaller in stature, more like a roo would be, but she has never shown any signs of crowing, mounting, courting or anything.

 

[joe125]

Quote:
Well, just color sexing it, then it looks like a hen to me, despite the "Rust" color on its breast. Real brown/wild color hens will molt into this color in the fall if no supplemental lighting is given. If it were a 4-6 week old, then I would say let it ride and figure it out, but if it's 4-5+ months old, and IT has never dropped an egg....Then Attention to orders! You have been detached from your current duty assignment, and reassigned to Camp Kenmore for extreme cold weather training!

This hen

Would be mistakenly color sexed as a roo, but your bird could be a hen with a hormone imbalance or a "Just Pat!" roo.

Unfortunately this can happen from time to time, so if you have the pen space, feed money, and time, then let him/her ride, and figure it all out.

As far as birds changing sexes, that doesn't really happen. They can suffer extreme hormone imbalances and undergo (Sexual dimorphic) changes...Hens colored, acting like roos, etc... Roos colored, acting like hens, etc...
If it looks like, and acts like a roo, and lays an egg....it is a hen. If it looks like a hen, a roo, or what ever....then it can be a roo, or a hen that can't lay an egg..


Only hens can lay an egg!!!!!! No matter what hormone imbalance is going on, a roo can never lay an egg!

 

[rittert3]

I don't think "sex change" is the case here. But that is a very usefull and interesting article and I've known about it for a couple years. I use to go to feathersite alot more before I found byc.