greenviolet
In the Brooder
- Aug 22, 2025
- 8
- 26
- 31
My previous post is here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/dominant-hen-or-roo-meet-butter.1674518/
My lovely Butter, the large-and-in-charge pullet, enjoying a nap on a people foot:
Coming back to add that I figured out what led to the very unexpected crowing!
Apparently Butter has been occupying a specific end of a roosting bar every night since coming back to the flock after being away due to illness, and has been pecking all the other chickens away from that position as a show of dominance to keep her top spot in the pecking order.
We thought all the chickens were just fighting over the "very special" end roosting spot more than usual for the last 2 weeks, so we blocked it off in the hopes that they would stop and sort out a new "seating chart" for their nights.
But we inadvertently took away the means for poor Butter to assert herself over everyone else, leaving her with the only option left for making sure all the other chickens know who is still in charge, which turned out to be crowing as soon as the sunlight was visible over the trees!
Many thanks to everyone who commented that she is a pullet; I went back and looked at many, many pictures of young roosters and pullets side by side and I do not see any indication in any of Butter's "baby pictures" that she ever had rooster feathers.
Since we don't want the crowing to continue (mostly for the sake of our neighbors and the very confused roosters across the way), we unblocked the spot last night as soon as we realized what probably happened, and this morning Butter showed no interest in crowing again.
I feel badly that we caused her so much stress for a few days, and hopefully she will get to feel better once she can make her eggs like everyone else
My lovely Butter, the large-and-in-charge pullet, enjoying a nap on a people foot:
Coming back to add that I figured out what led to the very unexpected crowing!
Apparently Butter has been occupying a specific end of a roosting bar every night since coming back to the flock after being away due to illness, and has been pecking all the other chickens away from that position as a show of dominance to keep her top spot in the pecking order.
We thought all the chickens were just fighting over the "very special" end roosting spot more than usual for the last 2 weeks, so we blocked it off in the hopes that they would stop and sort out a new "seating chart" for their nights.
But we inadvertently took away the means for poor Butter to assert herself over everyone else, leaving her with the only option left for making sure all the other chickens know who is still in charge, which turned out to be crowing as soon as the sunlight was visible over the trees!
Many thanks to everyone who commented that she is a pullet; I went back and looked at many, many pictures of young roosters and pullets side by side and I do not see any indication in any of Butter's "baby pictures" that she ever had rooster feathers.
Since we don't want the crowing to continue (mostly for the sake of our neighbors and the very confused roosters across the way), we unblocked the spot last night as soon as we realized what probably happened, and this morning Butter showed no interest in crowing again.
I feel badly that we caused her so much stress for a few days, and hopefully she will get to feel better once she can make her eggs like everyone else
