Then She was a He

Ok, so maybe I had slight rooster denial. I should have seen the signs. After all, Pandora, was the biggest and prettiest of the pack with that long silky iridescent tail feather.

And the first time she jumped on one of the other hens, I freaked out and ran into the house and googled, “hen mounting another hen” only to find a posting about “lesbian chicken activity” which described a dominant hen often takes on the role of a rooster in the absence of one in a flock. Two of my chicken-owning friends validated this activity, so I let that river of denial keep flowing.

Besides, she was almost eight months old and had never crowed…but had also never laid that green egg, yet. I googled, “rooster that doesn’t crow” and apparently I could sell this bird for quite a good price. Goggling “at what age do roosters crow” returned much younger birds – 12 to 15 weeks old.

Still, I had that uneasy feeling that she was a he. I googled images of ameraucana roosters and hens and became even more convinced that I was completely confused. But I suppose that the determining visual factor was that Pandora was beginning to develop tiny little spurs on the back of her legs.

I kept wondering, if she really is a rooster, then why hasn’t s/he crowed? Just then a weak, faint strained sound came from the backyard coop. Cock-a-doodle-doooo. Oh no, and again…the same sound. Cock-a-doodle-doooo.

At that moment, laying in bed, there was no denying anymore. Sorry Pandora, but you have got to go.