who is the rooster and how many do I have

[Debbie1116]

I am so confused I am new with chickens,My ladies are 5 months old its late at night I will add pics tomorrow. So I didn't know if there is blood in an egg its fertilized. and today i walked into the coop and Minnie AKA Mickey? a very vocal chicken was on top of my copper maran doing the deed...GROSS ! So now I know that those bloody eggs I was getting are fertilized . The thing is I think I have more than one rooster I have one hen injured from being pecked in the head in a crate in my garage healing. none of them are crowing..best advice on sure way to sex chickens I would hate to get rid of perfectly good hens!! I have done a lot of research on google and omgosh so many ways to sex a chicken but none of them make me say OK without a doubt these are Roos...should I just wait until the cock a doodle do. I am so not eating those eggs LOL i have a thing about fertilized eggs NO WAY..is there anyway to know for sure?? HELP!! Oh also a friend of mine said a roo will not squat ..Minnie(aka mickey) squats for me every time I go into the coop and pen. she/he has never done the wing drop that I have experienced with other roos..I have 5 hens out of 11 that puff up the hackles all day long.No signs of Talons yet either.

 

[AlleysChicks]

So tomorrow post really good pics of each of your chickens here and we will help point out any boys. Blood in eggs does not mean they are fertilized.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. Blood in an egg does not mean that it is fertile. Eggs don't develop into chicks until they are incubated. Blood in eggs indicates some sort of glitch in the hen's reproductive tract. In commercial production such eggs are sold to bakeries. Post pictures, and folks will identify your cockerels.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Pictures will most definitely help. Try to get the head so we can see comb and waddles. Also profile pictures where the shoulder and tail area are visible are good.
You're looking for the long pointed feathers around the neck and tail.

In a no rooster flock sometimes a dominant hen will act as a rooster.

 

[speckledhen]

You cannot tell a fertile egg from an infertile egg unless you know what to look for.
Check this out and you'll see you can eat them with no gross factor at all!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...g-photos-thread-reboot.1113237/#post-17139317

BUT, blood in an egg has zero to do with any rooster. I remember an old John Steinbeck novel where the ranch hand told a young boy that was what it meant. Maybe that's where folks get it. But, post pics and we'll tell you if you have any males in there.

 

[Krazyquilts]

I am so confused I am new with chickens,My ladies are 5 months old its late at night I will add pics tomorrow. So I didn't know if there is blood in an egg its fertilized. and today i walked into the coop and Minnie AKA Mickey? a very vocal chicken was on top of my copper maran doing the deed...GROSS ! So now I know that those bloody eggs I was getting are fertilized . The thing is I think I have more than one rooster I have one hen injured from being pecked in the head in a crate in my garage healing. none of them are crowing..best advice on sure way to sex chickens I would hate to get rid of perfectly good hens!! I have done a lot of research on google and omgosh so many ways to sex a chicken but none of them make me say OK without a doubt these are Roos...should I just wait until the cock a doodle do. I am so not eating those eggs LOL i have a thing about fertilized eggs NO WAY..is there anyway to know for sure?? HELP!! Oh also a friend of mine said a roo will not squat ..Minnie(aka mickey) squats for me every time I go into the coop and pen. she/he has never done the wing drop that I have experienced with other roos..I have 5 hens out of 11 that puff up the hackles all day long.No signs of Talons yet either.

My female ducks "mated" each other all the time before we got our male duck. I assume that it's the same in the chicken world and you have nothing to worry about.

And even if you did have a rooster, nothing wrong with eating fertilized eggs. Because I want to know if my boys are "getting the job done," I try to check every egg for fertility as I crack it open while cooking and I'm always disappointed every time I get an unfertilized egg.

 

[Jemma Rider]

I have two roos both who i thought were hens originally, I'm really new to chickens but I've had some experience with roos pretending to be girls . I recommend looking at feather shape. Hens will have really full feathers with rounded tips, roos will have thin feathers with very pointy tips, this is most noticeable on their necks. As for the eggs, if you've bought any eggs that came from free ranged or pastured eggs you have been eating fertilized eggs without knowing it. The blood spots will go away and don't really have anything to do with the egg being fertilized, blood spots are often found in young layers and according to my chickens old owner they go away. If an egg is fertilized it will have a small white dot on the yolk. Roosters will be bigger, heavier, have pointer feathers and will often be on the bottom of the pecking order at first. Here is a picture of my black cooper maran roo who is pretty much a stereotypical roo. I would just wait until they crow to be sure, and you might want to think about keeping or getting a roo, one of mine saved one of my hens from a hawk attack yesterday.

roos will also have much bigger feet as well, here is a picture of my roos foot in between two pictures of my hens.

Roosters aren't super horrible to have around, if you end up keeping Mickey? Then just make sure to handle him as much as possible. My roo is as tame as a puppy dog and responds to his personal name. If you want him to be friendly take him away from the others for a few minutes every day and hand feed him his favorite treats. I will look at the pictures tomorrow as well, just keep in mind that chickens are known to fool even the most seasoned of keepers, so i would wait until they crow.

Here is also a picture of one of my EE hens and her buddy, and a close up picture of my roo so you can see the feathers.

hope this helps, i wouldn't trade my roo for a hundred hens so maybe consider keeping him.

 

[Seaecho]

So much information! I'm learning (slowly, but learning). You roo is so handsome! Makes me want one! But I know now all of them are as sweet as yours.

 

[Jemma Rider]

So much information! I'm learning (slowly, but learning). You roo is so handsome! Makes me want one! But I know now all of them are as sweet as yours.

Thank you, it takes a lot for a roo to be tamed i guess is the word for it, but it's really worth it my roo basically turned into my dog and i didn't raise him from a chick i bought him as an adult and he used to have an awful personality, biting scratching running at me nothing was below him. My friends told me to cull him because of the dangers when her starts growing spurs but i was determined. He hated it but every day i took him for a walk to the other side of the yard away from the girls and put him on the ground and just sat next to him, eventually he ate from my hand and now he is trained to come when i call him. All my chicken friends still insist that he'll get meaner with age but i really don't think so, he's such a good boy. Also sorry you probably weren't expecting this much of a reply but i never waist an opportunity to talk about my boy, I'm one of those crazy people who treat animals like kids, sort of like a grandmother who has one thousand pictures in her wallet.

 

[Seaecho]

You are to be commended for your dedication! And no, I didn't mind the long reply at all! He sounds fascinating. My animals are my kids too. I know what you mean!