We have a rooster!  Or at least two!  (Please don’t let there be more than two). Our Blue Ameracauna has been looking a little suspicious for the past few weeks. It’s nearly twice the size (at 4 months) of some of our older girls from last year!  I kept telling myself it must just be a big breed… it would crow if it was a rooster… and it hasn’t crowed yet – until it did!  Clear as day, cock-a-doodle-roo!  Now that I look at them I think at least two of our four Blue Ameracuanas are roosters.  (so much for 90% accuracy with sexing day old chicks!)  The few blue eggs we get will be extra special now!

These two Ameracauna are the same age.  The rooster on the left is much larger than the hen on the right.  See the subtle difference in tail feathers?  This rooster’s tail is going to be majestic when he’s full grown!

After doing a little research and consulting my friends from the Hunterdon County Backyard Chickens Facebook Group, we have decided to keep our two roosters – as long as they play nice.  Apparently there is such a thing as ‘gentle roosters’ that don’t fight and don’t beat up the ladies.  As long as these two behave themselves, they can stay.  And John came up with names for them so now they are pets!  The lighter blue rooster above is Stonewall Jackson and the darker blue below is General Sherman.  Wish us luck!

Is this a gentle face?

And, in case you were wondering, there is no difference in the taste or appearance of a fertilized egg versus a non-fertilized egg.  As long as the eggs are collected daily, they will remain just that – just eggs.  If we want to expand our flock one day all we have to do is let fertilized eggs incubate for 21 days!

Everyone else is minding their own business, but the roosters are keen to my plans!

If you would like to learn more about fertilized eggs, The Chicken Chick (one of my favorite chicken resources) wrote a great blog post on it: Facts and Myths about Fertile Eggs.

I was hoping to catch a rooster crowing by the time I posted this but he didn’t cooperate.  So here is a flashback to our little Violet checking out the chickens instead: