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FOr you chicken folks (Julie?) I'm thinking I may have gotten a rooster :o I was supposed to have gotten 4 pullets, a brahma, red sex link, Barred Rock and a Delaware....well first of all it became quite apparent that the Delaware was not a Del. then I noticed she/he was quite a bit larger than her buds. Now she's getting really pretty feathers and growing a poofy, pretty tail...so! is it a rooster? Della or Delbert? Also, do roosters lay down different than hens? I mean the hens lay on their breasts, like they're roosting, this guy/gal lays on her side like a dog :blink: legs out to the side...just like a guy LOL

 

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I know Laura!!! That' what I thought too! LOL WHen he/she flies, it looks like a hawk! I really need to video Liz working them ;-) it is too funny. This one doens't like to be caught, and I wanted to take a closer look at her, check for spurs....Liz pushed her right up into the corner so I could catch her. The first attempt, the chicken turned and flew right into Liz's face :unsure: Liz just stayed put and closed her eyes ;-) OMG it was hilarious. THe next time we were able to catch her.

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The first attempt, the chicken turned and flew right into Liz's face :unsure: Liz just stayed put and closed her eyes ;-) OMG it was hilarious.

 

I'm all freaked out just mentally picturing this. I really admire that you were able to catch her and check for spurs. *shudder*

 

And then to bring this back around to something other than my silliness, she (or he) does remind me a lot of J's Velociraptors. Minus the funky fleshy spot on the chest, of course, but then I don't remember if the females had that funky spot or not.

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Aha! Someone else has velociraptor wannabes! If it's young, it wouldn't necessarily have spurs, though it looks like little spur buds on the sides of its legs. I'm confused though. The barred rock and the sex link are obvious, but is the white hen a brahma or a Delaware? I thought Brahmas had feathered legs/feet? And that would mean the white hen is probably the Delaware.

 

Some breeds are extremely difficult to tell gender on (Ameraucanas/Araucans for example), but a big tail is generally a sign of a rooster. None of my chickens lie down with their feet out to the side unless they're dusting/sunbathing.

 

His (her) long legs and more upright posture do remind me of a game chicken of some sort. We determined that the velociraptors were probably Shamos or some other similar Asian fighting cock. This one looks like it could be something similar. The bare chest Laura refers to is present because the chicken is considered "hard feathered" which means the feathers lay down really slick and some skin actually shows through.

 

Here are some pictures:

Malays

 

Shamo

 

These are from Feathersite, which is a great place for looking up pictures of various breeds of chicken.

 

Did the person you got these from have game chickens?

 

J.

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The white one is a Brahma for sure, hard to tell but she has a lot of feathers on her feet 5683593643_0a0c8a0a12_b.jpg

 

The place I got her from was a pretty reputable feed store, that carries all kinds of breeds of chickens, breeds you can't find other places....most of my chicken friends think she's a roo, and also think some kind of game chicken? I probabaly ought to call and ask the feed store, as there was a whole pen of these chicks, so I;m assuming nobody else got Delawares either LOL These birds are about 9 or 10 weeks old? SO I guess it will be while before I know for sure...when Delbert starts crowing ;-) I have to admit, he does have a rooster look to him, looks like FOghorn Leghorn LOL

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He might not necessarily crow! My only rooster is an Old English Game bantam and he doesn't say boo, ever. The hens make way more noise than he ever does, and he prefers to sleep in of a morning too :) I swore I'd never have a roo, but Kenny Rogers Roaster Rooster is a helluva lot nicer than his mate, who pecks the shit out of me every time I have to catch them for some reason.

 

Your possible rooster, though, looks scary!

 

RDM

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I know! she/he does look scary! But from the pics Julie posted, he does look Japanese...I think he should turn out pretty/handsome, so good picture taking ops LOL I'm in love with my little one eyed RSL, she is too sweet, I call her name, Eilean, and she comes running ;-) who knew a chicken would be so personable ;-) I really like her.

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I was really surprised at how much I *like* my chickens. The hens have recently discovered that they enjoy being massaged under the wings and they'll line up for this attention now! I love when they run, as they look like fat old ladies holding up their skirts when they do ;-)

 

RDM

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LOL yep fat little old ladies ;-) I knew I'd like the chickens (I like all animals, sucker written across my forehead) But I'm surprised how fun they are and how relaxing it is to just watch them, much like my koi...I'll have to see if Eilean likes a good rub down LOL I try to pick them all up a couple of times a day...they're getting pretty tame (except for the the mystery bird) Can't wait till they start laying! That will be awesome! May have to go get some more hens though, if I only have 3....

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The sad thing is that if that bird is an Asian fighting breed, s/he'll likely turn mean as it matures.

 

The little hen coming down the ramp is adorable. She didn't look like she had feathers on her feet in the first picture you posted. Still Delawares are white and the chicks are yellow. Was that bird a yellow chick? I would have guessed more reddish as a chick, given the color now.

 

The other day I was in a Southern States and they had chicks in a stock tank with cardboad dividing the two sides between the baby pullets and the straight run chicks. The chicks were blithely hopping past the cardboard on one of the interior ridges in the stock tank. I wondered that day how many folks were paying more for the sexed chicks and going home with roos anyway!

 

I have one big hen sitting on 20 eggs (I doubt they'll all hatch) and a OEG bantam that appears to be broody too. Time to get to work on some chick tractors so I can keep babies safe once they hatch out!

 

J.

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I used to rescue fighting chickens. They won't necessarily turn mean and they make one hell of a setting hen plus real protective Mommas. I left a rescue fighting hen when I moved from MO the first time. she still lives today 5 years later and she wasn't a baby when I left. The owners (my cousins) say she doesn't lay anymore but still sets others eggs.

 

I also had more than one fighting rooster together at a time. As long as they didn't change their looks (like get really wet or muddy, it happened one time) they can live together if given enough room and enough women around. There would be a boss roo but the lower totem pole roos still got their groove on, just really sneaky about it.

 

I miss my chickens. I had them in MO not in AR and had them again in CO, I had the meanest roo in CO. He was a mistaken female Araucana. Meaner than the devil.

 

The chickens I had that I called upright chickens (like your little friend) weren't ever a problem.

There was a particular breed, that I can't remember the name of that stood upright and wasn't of the fighting line. He was from my sons 3rd grade science project.

 

DH and I called watching the chickens, Chicken TV cause it was usually better than watching tv!

 

Oh Yeah...

I had a chicken expert (the one that got me into rescuing game/fighting chickens) told me that most females tail feathers would look like praying hands, where roosters had one long feather droop over the tail. Your guy looks like it has both! Also my Araucana rooster never did grow big spurs, thank doG cause he'd of been deadly. He even had Mick nervous of him. One time I heard Mick out barking a real weird bark. I look out and the rooster had him pinned between the car and the tractor. I'm sure Mick could of killed him but he knew better so he was barking to get me out there to rescue him! Dew didn't even dare come close to that mean ol guy!

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I actually have a Rhode Island Red hen with spurs! She's one of my favorite hens, with a floppy comb. She reminds of the hens in Chicken Run.

 

I taught Pip and Lark to chase the velociraptors. They were awful about attacking. They didn't fight each other or the other roosters, but then I had lots of space and lots of chickens. Still, they were awful especially about going after children. I wasn't sorry to see them butchered....

 

Pip and Lark will also break up rooster fights. Lark is especially handy at that.

 

J.

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Those of you who enjoy your chickens might also enjoy this soon-to-be-published book ("The Chicken Chronicles") by Alice Walker (of "The Color Purple" fame, amongst many other books). I heard her being interviewed on NPR this week (Diane Rehm show?) and immediately put it on my Amazon "wish list". I've been wanting to keep chickens for years, but zoning ordinances (and DH's resistance) are powerful impediments.

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I used to raise all kinds of chickens. That one looks like a rooster to me, but I could be wrong. I've had my share of mean roosters. One got me bad enough one day that it shredded my pants leg and left me with a nice scar. I'd usually dispatch those types, but that was one of my more rare breed roosters so I had talk with him and he left me alone after that. I would take my hoof clippers and cut the spurs off from time to time if they got too long. I had one rooster (RIR) that actually broke his spurs off trying to get at me through the fence. I like my chickens too. I don't think its something you can help. I think some people are just born with the chicken loving gene. My dog, Seth, loves to work chickens. I had the chickens out the other day while we were working on my house and I forgot I left Seth out with them. After about an hour when I remembered I found them huddled in a corner of the pen with Seth lying there holding them. I'd wanted them out to eat bugs, but Seth has his own ideas on these things.

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Well so far she's not mean at all. As a matter of fact she was the friendliest of the chicks when we first got them...she's a little more flighty now, but when I catch her, she's pretty calm. I hope she/he doesn't turn into a turd LOL I've been trying to get her to be a little more tame, so maybe that will help. Here is what she looked like as a youngster. As a baby chick, she was fairly buff colored with the barring on her wings.

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These by the way, are some expensive chickens! they cost me about $2K :unsure: Yep ;-( when my husband told our neighbor that we had gotten chickens, he went balistic, I mean ka razy! Ended up getting a letter from an attorney, demanding we get rid of the chickens, and not only that, my sheep too!!!! I mean this guy was a total a$$ hat ;-( Told us we had 30 days to get rid of them all or face litigation....I of course was a mess. Got an attorney, and luckily we had statute of limitations on our side, the sheep have been here for 6 years, and the limit. is 4 years...neighbors said they'd only been here 2, but the news paper had done a story on our house in the life style section ;-) and right there in black and white, and color! they mentioned all my critters LOL Anyway, alls well that ends well ;-) I really didn't want a rooster, because of the noise, and had this other mess not happened, I'd probably rehome this guy if he was a roo, but now ;-) too bad so sad LOL let him crow ;-) hee heee

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I can't wait till I am able to get some chickens!

 

They have so much personality. And I also love the picture of the white one running down the ramp. Hilarious.

 

BTW, A$$ Hat is one of my favorite words. :lol: Hehe.

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I'll trade you a hen for the roo... We were supposed to get 30, heavy breed cockerels last week. We raise them for meat instead of the Cornish cross, which I think are scary. The hatchery called us and told us they messed up- we have hens! Oh well, they offered to replace them, but we don't need 60 chickens. We'll raise the hens out, maybe keep a few, and eat the rest.

 

We also love our chickens. They're better than TV :) Our laying flock is rapidly becoming a muttley mix of hens. We keep a rooster and have a couple of broody hens, so we've been hatching our own replacement hens. We had a wonderful Aracauna rooster for a while (he was massive... and named Peep), then last year we got a new roo. He's half Welsummer, and half "barn chicken"- the random cross-bred chickens my friend has running around her barn.

 

We don't tolerate mean roosters. We've had a couple. They get one chance, then it's into the stew pot!

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instead of the Cornish cross, which I think are scary.

 

I agree with you. You couldn't pay me to have one in my flock! Scary. Weird, ugly, unnatural, and scary.

 

We also love our chickens. They're better than TV :) Our laying flock is rapidly becoming a muttley mix of hens. We keep a rooster and have a couple of broody hens, so we've been hatching our own replacement hens. We had a wonderful Aracauna rooster for a while (he was massive... and named Peep), then last year we got a new roo. He's half Welsummer, and half "barn chicken"- the random cross-bred chickens my friend has running around her barn.

 

I had purebreds for a while, but just like with my OEG bantams, if you're going to free range, then you're pretty much going to end up with a muttley mix. And that's fine with me. Some of my mixes are the most beautiful color combinations. I love 'em! (And of course the mixes give all sorts of shades of brown and blue/green eggs, as well as a creamy color--the eggs I sell look like rainbows in the cartons.)

 

Betty,

The person who sold you that chick should have known better than to tell you it was a Delaware, which are little yellow balls of fluff....

 

J.

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(And of course the mixes give all sorts of shades of brown and blue/green eggs, as well as a creamy color--the eggs I sell look like rainbows in the cartons.)

 

I am looking to add a couple of cuckoo marans, the ones that lay the dark brown eggs ... I am having some difficulty finding any pullets locally though. I like the rainbow eggs effect!

 

We keep a rooster and have a couple of broody hens, so we've been hatching our own replacement hens. We had a wonderful Aracauna rooster for a while (he was massive... and named Peep), then last year we got a new roo. He's half Welsummer, and half "barn chicken"- the random cross-bred chickens my friend has running around her barn.

 

I would love to make my own replacement hens, but I think that would involve a new rooster. In addition to being quiet and sleepy, mine is also apparently asexual. He shows no interest at all in my hens, not even his OEG wife.

 

RDM

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I called the feed store, and she said they'd not had anyone else call in about the birds...she said to check ideal poultry, as that's where they get their birds...this one looks like Della, a dark aseel, game bird from India...what cha' think? Could be?

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Betty,

Could be. You'll probably never know for sure. We only (tentatively) identified the velociraptors when we went to a show and there were some similar looking birds there. A lot of those Asian game types look very similar.

 

RDM,

I have not had good luck with any of the Marans I've bought. People will swear they're hatched from the darkest eggs, and yet they never lay really dark eggs themselves, so I gave up. I do have a few Marans mutts--those are some that I look for their very pretty feather colors, but they don't lay dark eggs either. Eventually I will try Wellsummers or one of the other (supposed) dark-brown-egg laying breeds. I gave all my marans to Kelly when I moved. I'll be curious to see if she gets any dark egg laying chicks out of them.

 

I can't vouch for this place because I haven't ordered from them myself (I prefer to buy older chicks that are ready to leave a brooder), but I've kept them bookmarked because they carry some breeds I like:

Dark Egg.

 

And they do have Marans pullet chicks available now, which is surprising. Betty, you can get Aseels there too! :lol:

 

J.

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Julie! YOu win the prize ;-) Talked to the lady at the feed store, and this is what she sent me,

 

 

"Well, we didn't have any Dark Aseel on any orders this year, I think it's a BB Red Malay also called Old English and we did have those in our booking order. (and they were st. run's which means he could easily be a rooster.)"

 

Guess you know your chickens girl!!! Thanks!

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RDM,

I have not had good luck with any of the Marans I've bought. People will swear they're hatched from the darkest eggs, and yet they never lay really dark eggs themselves, so I gave up.

 

I have heard that from other people too. I bought a couple of Black Copper Maran pullets for now and pick them up on Monday. Even if they don't lay the really dark brown eggs, they will replace a couple of my sexlinks that are getting older and won't be around for too much longer, since I don't intend to keep all my chickens for 12 years apiece! The dogs can eat them old hens I guess. I'd like a couple of Auraucanas as well. And sometime when I build a bigger pen, I will get some Frizzles, only because they amuse me *endlessly*

 

RDM

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