Silent Crowing?? Yawning Maybe? Is that a thing?

[chickity-chick]

Hi everyone,
So I woke up today to let my babies out and Sniffles sat at the top of the stairs of the coop standing up tall with his head high and opened his mouth in big yawning motions over and over then he/she proceeded to strut around in the pen doing the same thing. This stopped after 4-5 minutes but there was no noise? I am still debating if he/she is a he or she? I would LOVE peoples advice. Do you think this was a crow and that would seal the fate as a he? They are 7 weeks old as of today and he/she is a black copper maran. He/she is the one in the middle in the picture bellow. My other black copper maran on the ground in the pic has a redder comb and waddles, really not sure gender of either of these. But Sniffles the one in question is the only one who has tried this new silent yawn crow thing. Could it be a yawn? Do chickens do that?

 

[Acre4Me]

Our chicks will do this occasionally. We think they are just stretching, adjusting crop, or similar. Yes, it’s silent and looks like they should be making noise, but it’s normal behavior.

if male, they don’t usually do much in the way of crowing until closer to 16 weeks, although some chicks make attempts earlier than that. And some breeds have a tendency to begin earlier. My BCM and Leghorn males were early crowers-with full on crowing by 14 weeks. If they attempt to crow, they will make noise. Also the first period of time when they begin to crow it almost seems involuntary, as if it surprised them too!

if it happens a lot, or bird seems distressed, you can look to see if they have something stuck in their throat as they may be trying to dislodge it. Listen to see if they are breathing heavily, or noisily.

your BCM is too young to tell for sure. In my experience BCM develop comb wattles a bit on the early side, even females show some growth by 7 weeks. However, all our Marans females have lighter feathered legs than the males. Your has a good amount of feathers. In combination with the comb and wattle growth, I’d keep watching for more male signs. Saddle feathers will show up around 12 weeks. Crowing attempts may start sooner than that for BCM.

 

[chickity-chick]

Our chicks will do this occasionally. We think they are just stretching, adjusting crop, or similar. Yes, it’s silent and looks like they should be making noise, but it’s normal behavior.

if male, they don’t usually do much in the way of crowing until closer to 16 weeks, although some chicks make attempts earlier than that. And some breeds have a tendency to begin earlier. My BCM and Leghorn males were early crowers-with full on crowing by 14 weeks. If they attempt to crow, they will make noise. Also the first period of time when they begin to crow it almost seems involuntary, as if it surprised them too!

if it happens a lot, or bird seems distressed, you can look to see if they have something stuck in their throat as they may be trying to dislodge it. Listen to see if they are breathing heavily, or noisily.

your BCM is too young to tell for sure. In my experience BCM develop comb wattles a bit on the early side, even females show some growth by 7 weeks. However, all our Marans females have lighter feathered legs than the males. Your has a good amount of feathers. In combination with the comb and wattle growth, I’d keep watching for more male signs. Saddle feathers will show up around 12 weeks. Crowing attempts may start sooner than that for BCM.

Ok thank you so much. I will post photos again at 12 weeks to see if people can help me identify male saddle feathers. Thank you for easing my worry about the crowing tho! Breathing does sound normal, but I will say my two BCMs are very quiet birds, the only peeping noises I hear all day are from by red sex links. Is this normal? Should I worry about this too?

 

[Acre4Me]

Ok thank you so much. I will post photos again at 12 weeks to see if people can help me identify male saddle feathers. Thank you for easing my worry about the crowing tho! Breathing does sound normal, but I will say my two BCMs are very quiet birds, the only peeping noises I hear all day are from by red sex links. Is this normal? Should I worry about this too?

no need to worry about chatty vs non-chatty birds. Some just need to talk ...a lot!

 

[aart]

A video might help determine if it's just crop adjusting.

I'd bet that's a male.