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If I had hens, and one turned out to be a rooster, is it possible that the behavior would show up at 16 wks?
Out of my 10 pullets, 3 have combs & wattles that are growing. The oldest chick, who is 2 wks older than the others, has just started weak crowing and aggressive behavior towards the others, esp the 2 with the growing combs. I thought the crowing would start at 5-6 wks of age, and my husband read online that in the absence of a rooster, often the dominant hen will start fake crowing and will be bossy. Any opinions here?
2 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavourite answer
Absolutely! Little roos can start to show that "cocky" behavior towards the other birds as early as the first few weeks. At least that is my experience. For example, out of no where, my little 2 week old chick will jump at another one. Already I know its a roo (99% of the time).
True, with no roo there will be a dominant hen, but she wont necessarily crow. I have only had one hen that crowed, I have been raising chickens for 10 years. And let me tell you, there were plenty of roosters around! Even when there is a rooster to keep order, you will have a dominant hen as well.
Crowing can start very early, especially in bantams.
And most likely your pullets with growing combs and wattles are males. Sorry. Good luck to you and have fun with your new little munchkins!
Lexa
Source(s): 10 years of raising chickens - 1 decade ago
I have 4 hens, they lay eggs daily, and no roosters.
the other night my wife ran out because she heard something that sounded like crowing - indeed one of the hens was doing this.
but if they are growing combs - probably male.
