Hi everyone,
Just getting started on the site, and thought I'd kick things off with my chickens. I have three hens, all aged about three months: Biscuit the Araucana, Prissy the black Cochin, and Blanche the white Cochin. I bought them from a reputable source at about age 7 weeks.
Here's the issue... Blanche has always been a bit odd. The man I bought her from sold her to me as a Cochin, but unlike Prissy (who looks like she is wearing a dress with all her feathery undercarriage) she has just a few feathers on each of her legs. She also has an extra toe on one foot, which in my mind, is a little bonus feature.
The issue is that Blanche is getting progressively more butch! She has always been the leader of the pack, herding the other two hens around or leading the way, calling when they're not near her, etc. I figure this is all pretty normal, and they each have a distinct personality.
However, in the last week she has started stretching her neck, flapping, and attempting to crow (comes out more like a squawk). She has also started mounting Biscuit, though she hasn't gone for Prissy yet. Blanche has a much larger and redder comb than the other two hens and her wattles are fairly pronounced as well, but no spurs or enhanced tail feathers. I don't really mind if she's butch, and google tells me this isn't really that uncommon. My only issues are whether she will lay (only time will tell here, I guess), and whether this will be a permanent problem. In my city is illegal to own roosters in the city limits due to the noise, and she is starting to wake me up in the mornings. Any thoughts? Anybody else experience this?
