[darcyhen]

I have nine chickens. The youngest three are buff orpingtons and i am damn sure i have a girl and two boys. However, the 'girl' has started copying? her brothers as they try their luck with the other girls.

This morning she 'joined' in as the boys took a hen by pecking the hen! Then later she was doing the cocks dance to the other hens.

I think she's a girl because after a week of hatching one of the three had more feathers and looked different. Then for the next so many months they all looked the same. Then for the last 2 months the boys have had fancy tail feathers and crowed! The girl orpie is not laying yet and three of my other hens have only just started.

All the girls except the orpie are in one hen house and the three orpies are in another house. Orginally two of my aracunas were in with the orpies but once they started treading they moved out!

What do you think?

Michelle

[too many girls]

i'll get back to you when i've woken up properly

[Foxy]

I think maybe you have another cockerel that was  just a slow starter

[joyfull]

Hi Michelle, I agree it sounds like 3 boy orpies to me as well especially doing the dance (oh by the way Gene Vincent does his dance very well and seems to have paired up with the 4 youngest araucanas very happily leaving the older girls for Big Boppa the older more experienced boy  ).

[darcyhen]

Hello Joy,

Glad to hear Gene is really settled. He was a beauty. These Orpies are such thugs. Its awful seeing them tread the hens and i might have to get rid of them as i feel so sorry for them. They even gang up on them.

I am really sure it was a girl. I think she is copying the boys as she lives with them and doesn't associate with the other girls. She actually tried to tread Doris this morning. Doris was totally still and submissive as the two others had already got her and this female had been pecking her at the same time! However, once (i think i shall call her Boadicca!) got on top she suddenly didnt know what to do!

We are about to move them down to the original run we built to worm them and i might try putting Boadicca with the girls and see if it improves her behaviour.

It's ironic that the Orpies have such a lovely nature towards us humans but these three are just so awful to my other girlies!

BTW mu little aracunas are finally laying so i am having beautiful blue eggs.

Michelle