Question about chickens that flog

[HHandbasket]

Ok, so we have this lovely little white silkie that we hatched last spring. We named her Sascha, and she's super sweet but has been slower-growing than the other 2 silkies (one is a cuckoo, one is a partridge). Well this morning, "she" flogged my husband! Do females do that, or is my pretty Sascha really a handsome Sebastian?

 

[moodlymoo]

I will say yes only because it happened to me a few times by some cochin bantams I had but your silkie may be a buddy instead of a betty

 

[HHandbasket]

You know how it is with silkies... hard to sex them. "Sascha" has always been really sweet with us but has been getting picked on a LOT by the rest of the flock. She is at the very bottom of the pecking order, which is why we sometimes kinda spoil her and bring her in the house & let her chill out on the couch with us... she used to like to watch All My Children... she had a thing for Tad Martin... oh, wait, no, that was me that had a thing for Tad. Sorry.

Anyway, I can't tell if Sascha's male or female (if she turns out to be male, we'll be changing her name to Sebastian). We have 2 other silkies, as I mentioned, and Roberto (the cuckoo silkie) was absolutely displaying cockerel behavior IN THE BROODER when he was but a wee hatchling! Now he has a nice red comb underneath that crest & gorgeous coloring/markings, especially in his hackle feathers! He's SO obviously a roo! Honey (the partridge) was always very feminine and started laying about a week and a half ago, so we know for sure about her. Sascha always seemed feminine to me, and until she flogged my husband yesterday, we were about 80% sure she's a girl. Now we are back to 50/50, and I'm worried she's a boy.

 

[wrestling_mom]

I'm not sure what flogging is, but if you mean going after a person, we had a RIR doing that several weeks ago, and became concerned she might be a he. However, about 5 days ago, we began getting the MOST beautiful deep brown (terracotta) eggs. I really believe it was from that chicken, as she has chilled out again,lol. So, maybe Sascha is getting ready to lay for you.

 

[al6517]

Read through this............. there are plenty of good fixes one method mainly preferred over the others, but it works the best.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=573517

 

[aoxa]

By last spring, do you mean 2010 or 2011? I would think you would know if she was a he if born in 2010

Pictures?

I've seen my girls flog my cats, but never us!

 

[chicmom]

I'll bet your flogging silkie is a rooster in the making....cockerel, that is.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I bet he's a cockerel. I have had a pullet attempt to wing dance at me. Her wing didn't go to the ground, but she did that sideways stance with one shoulder higher than the other. But I've never been flogged by a hen that wasn't broody. Yup, I've been attacked by a broody for trying to help a chick get up the ramp - she came flying out and nailed me.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Your chicken isn't "super sweet" if he/ she is flogging people. That is not "sweet" behavior.

 

[HHandbasket]

No it isn't sweet. It's extremely irregular behavior, MOST especially for this particular chicken. And it's not like she's flogging everybody... hubby startled her/him and he/she flogged hubby. This came from nowhere, out of the blue. He/she has otherwise since then been perfectly normal and sweet like he/she has always been. I think he/she may just be sick of being at the bottom of the pecking order and being constantly attacked by the other flockmates.

Wouldn't that make YOU a little bit testy, even though you're a nice person, if you're always getting your arse kicked? I cannot imagine anyone, human or animal, that wouldn't react to that.