Thursday, August 27, 2009

Angela or Angelo?


Last night I had company. We sat on the deck and observed the chickens. We talked about Angela (see above in black, white and silver feathers). She is different. I've known she's different. She is the largest hen. She is as large as Dwight. She is a different color. Her tail is gaudy and plummy, like Dwight's rooster tail. The other hens have non-descript tail feathers. Angela's comb is the largest and darkest of the hen combs but much smaller than Dwights. Angela is a leader and the other hens are followers. Angela is the first hen out of the coop. She is the last one in the coop at night. She goes where she wants to go. The other hens are following the others. When Dwight mounts a hen, Angela will grab that hen by the head feathers and climb on top of her too. Angela chases the hens and has even tried to chase Dwight. Dwight won't put up with it. I once saw Angela try to mount Dwight. In response, he chased her around the entire house twice. Offspring #2 reports that Angela has crowed 3 times. (Suddenly I sound biblical). I knew all these things and suspected Angela had gender issues but my visitor last night offered another explanation - Angela is really Angelo. She's a he. She was a mismarked rooster. Could this really be true? All the hens have green legs and Dwight has yellow. Angela has green legs and in my mind, that made her a hen. I truly don't know that much about Americauna chickens. Maybe some roosters have green legs too. Angela (or Angelo) remains a mystery.

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