Revelation Part 1

Aloha everyone!!

So yesterday, I was on the phone with Joan describing Marge's behavior. Joan, bless her, encouraged me to look at her anatomy to make sure she's not a rooster.  I believe she said something like, "Just look down there and see if she has a pecker!"  Joan also promised me that if Marge turned out to be a rooster, she would never be able to look at a chicken again without laughing....

I went online to research chicken anatomy.....and learned that all the chicken organs are inside, so it's not always easy to tell, but there are other clues:

--Compare chickens within the same breed.  A rooster has a bigger body, bigger waddles, and a bigger comb than the hens.  YES.

--Look at the comb.  In a rooster, the comb will always stand erect, whereas with a hen, her comb will be smaller or fold over.  YES.

--A rooster actually has an oil gland, so its feathers will appear shinier than the females.  YES.

--A rooster will have spurs on its legs.  YES, just recently appearing.

--In looking at the tail feathers, hens have a simple duller set of feathers whereas the rooster's feathers look more like plummage and can be multi-colored.  YES.

--Lastly, hens cluck and roosters crow.  Lord, YES.

I think I am no longer in denial and have learned that even experts can't color-sex the chicks correctly all the time.  Ladies, Marge is a rooster!!!!  

I laughed so hard, I had tears streaming down my face!!

But now what??  The thing is, we're not allowed to have roosters in our zone....and there's no hiding Marge since she crows all the time!!  (even though i've sworn to our neighbors she's just a dominate hen).

Erin and Natalie are both nervous around her since she gets aggressive with them.  She humps all the hens, and we don't want the eggs fertilized.  Blast!!  What should we do??  Marge is Bambi and Mary's chicken....I actually love Marge too, although lately I notice HE is a lot more work to have around than the sisters.  I feel sad about this.

Erin suggested we call up Gina's parents and sister (who are all connected with UK's Agriculture program in a big way, love organic farming, chickens, etc) and ask them if they know of anyone who wants a rooster....and specify that we don't want Marge eaten.  It's our version of a rooster relocation program :)  Then we could research and possibly get 3 more laying hens to introduce to our flock--or something like that....somehow get a robust flock of hens who can lay eggs, be docile and fairly quiet, and keep each other warm in winter.

As I write this, Marge (uh er, Martin) is humping Faline.  We don't want to do anything without your all's input and permission, so please speak honestly and tell us what you think!!!!

Love to you all~

diana and erin