Seriously Roopecca!?!?

[Cryss]

He's definitely a cool looking bird...
...but I hear my mother saying, "pretty is as pretty does".
Does he ever get to come out of his enclosure?

Nope. He has an inside area of about 6sqft. His attached run is about 21sqft. The entire unit is inside the run so when he is in his personal run he can see and be seen by the flock. I have plans this summer to extend his run a bit.

 

[Cryss]

He's definitely a cool looking bird...
...but I hear my mother saying, "pretty is as pretty does".
Does he ever get to come out of his enclosure?

My mom said "Pride goeth before a fall" whenever she felt someone was vain or prideful. Kinda hard to not admire his beauty though.

 

[NatJ]

I've read that sometimes a hen will start to crow and grow rooster feathers, but can then go back to laying eggs.

I think it's something to do with hormones getting messed up and then going back to normal, but the feathers stay until the next molt, and the crowing just never goes away. So an apparent rooster can lay eggs. (Googling "sex change chicken" turns up various articles and even some photos.)

I was thinking this was what happened to your bird--until I read that you got fertile eggs while he was with the hens. So I guess he really is a male, and I'm just as puzzled as everyone else!

 

[Jac Jac]

View attachment 1978595
This is Roopecca, formerly known as Repecca before he crowed.

What a beautiful baby. I love him.

I dont see how you could have missed the egg when cleaning... and none of the ladies can get in there... he's definitely a male....
yeah I got nothing

Me neither. Seems like one for the books.

 

[Jac Jac]

Ok I've cracked it. No odor. Hmmm...safe to cook n feed to the chickens? One picture of the yolk is with flash, one without. There was a firm lump in the middle but it broke into 2 pieces when i lifted it out.View attachment 1979237 View attachment 1979245 View attachment 1979251 View attachment 1979252 View attachment 1979254 View attachment 1979255

Ok I've cracked it. No odor. Hmmm...safe to cook n feed to the chickens? One picture of the yolk is with flash, one without. There was a firm lump in the middle but it broke into 2 pieces when i lifted it out.View attachment 1979237 View attachment 1979245 View attachment 1979251 View attachment 1979252 View attachment 1979254 View attachment 1979255

A mixed-up cockerel laying double-yolk eggs, too? WOW! Hmmm, think about it. Is this truly a mystery or a conspiracy?!!

 

[janiedoe]

I was wondering why he wasn't in the stew pot but then I saw his picture! Movie star good looks!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm betting he's a hermaphrodite. Would be interesting to get a post-mortem on him when he goes the way of all flesh ... if you should ever do that, please post an update, this is very interesting. And please post more pics of him if you get a chance. On second look, he does not look like a typical rooster.

 

[Cryss]

No new eggs yet but I can't help but look every day!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

No new eggs yet but I can't help but look every day!

I would, too! Not every day you get a rooster egg!

 

[chippysmom]

He is a beauty. I've heard of hens crowing and acting like a rooster when there aren't any males around, but I don't know it that is true or not. I had to laugh when I saw a photo of him, our first batch of chicks had some bantams, and one, Mousey, was a beautiful silver color. And oh how he hated me. It was funny, he'd come after me and I would yell his brother's name, Chippy! and Chippy would come and chase him off. We saw him up in a tree outside the kitchen once, giving me the evil eye. He eventually met his demise fighting a hawk, he was jumping and flogging at it.