Good Living with Aprilanne

Archive for August, 2009

An imposter in the hen house… oh my!

by Aprilanne on Aug.05, 2009, under Farm Life

Go figure - one of these little darlings was an "Undercover Rooster"

We took four little chicks ‘under our wing” so to say this past Easter eve - and lovingly named them after my Grandma Rose and her three sisters - Rosie, Gracie, Florence, and Irene.  After getting to know them - Irene became “Roxy” (a very fiesty little girl) and Florence - exhibiting very dominate, “top hen” behaviors was re-named “Big Red” as her bright red comb and jowls developed so much earlier (still the case now) than that those of the other three.
Four months later - much to our surprise we hear soft, vague resemblances to what we thought (or feared) might be the sounds of a  ROOSTER coming out of the hen house early in the morning!
Well, you can imagine our surprise (and surprise again) when my husband tells me “Big Red” - the largest one of the flock is “doin it” with Roxy (the black one).  I didn’t believe it at first, after all, we were told when we got them they were all girls - you know - hens…then - I saw Big Red in action with Roxy too and knew she or shall I say HE was definitely a Rooster.

Now that I have first hand experience on the subject of “chickens” the literal answer to the age-old question “which came first the chicken or the egg” is pretty evident  - as our chicks are still too young to lay eggs and the eggs are definitely coming …and now that there’s a “rooster in the house” - apparently - so are more chickens!   Ancient philosophers started the whole “chicken or egg” dilemma when pondering how life and the universe began…yet since the circular logic literally takes one around in “circles” the thought process is somewhat futile as one’s existence is naturally  dependant on the other.

This is Big RED our "Undercover Rooster" at 5 months old...what a charmer!
This is Big RED our “Undercover Rooster” at 5 months old…what a charmer!

PS:  The main identifiable difference between a hen and a rooster is their “comb” - which explains why it may be difficult to determine the difference between sexes in chicks since this part of their anatomy does not develop until they are a few months old…anyway, wish me luck with this brood - the next few months should be very interesting indeed…

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