It’s really, really, exceedingly common with birds for the males to be more brightly colored than the females.
Some birds, like many of the parrots, have little to no sexual dimorphism. In those, you can only tell the males from the females with genetic tests or if one lays and egg.
Some birds, like mallards, only have obvious feather differences between the males and females during breeding season.
Like Mr Memory, you have ignored the question 
You made me giggle soda up my nose. Damn you!
Gallinaceous birds really are little dinosaurs. Moreso than any other family except the rattites. I mean, ostriches still nest in depressions on the ground! How cool is that?
</giddy science geek>
I haven’t finished the movie yet! I’m trying to Dope and work at the same time. 
I promise I’ll have a reply soon!
What made you decide to specialize in chickens? Is chickening something that you’ve grown up around or is this strictly a financial decision. Or do you actually like the little weirdos???
Serious question: Given the location of the testicles, how *does * the capon farmer get them out of there? Surely they don’t take the cockerels to the vet and pick them up as capons the next day. Is the procedure really within the abilities of a non-vet?
If the eggs in my refrigerator are marked August 30, and today is September 16th, how much longer can I safely eat them before they become suitable only for throwing at bad comics?
Actually had no exposure to them growing up. Always had an interest in reptiles and animals in general. After I had decided that I wanted to go to veterinary school, I started on a bachelor’s in Animal Science and got involved in some projects, including a literature review on Exotic Newcastle vaccination in poultry (there was an outbreak in souther California at the time). That got me really interested in the mechanics of poultry raising.
The fact that they have interesting behaviors, are deeply entrenched in cultures around the world, and are sort of the underdog of modern agriculture is just a bonus. 
How old are they when they become Wednesday’s dinner at Kasa Kalhoun? And how come their breasts are bigger than mine?
Guinea fowl nest on the ground in a little depression, too. Which is why we started this spring with eighteen that overwintered from last year’s flock and their surviving hatchlings, but are down to five now. Our guineas are totally free range, which means the nests (such as they are) are undefended. Predators got all of our brooding hens and their clutches, and a lot of the adults, too.
For your geekly pleasure:
My jury-rigged incubator for some keets who went on to live with a poultry-raising friend.
Guineas about the barn: keets on an outing; mom and half-grown keets raiding the grainroom; papa guinea defending his family from my horse.
My google-fu is failing me. Here’s a picture of a female’s anatomy. The male has his testes right where she has her ovary.
The usual method for making a capon involves a metal hook. An incision is made with a small knife, the skin is held apart, and the testes are visualized. The testicle is caught with the hook and pulled out. I’ve never seen it done, but my understanding is that it is done when the bird is fairly young, without anesthesia. You can imagine, this creates some ethical problems.
I imagine the folks who raise capons do the procedure themselves at the farm.
Here’s an article from 1916 that not only explains it well. It also has some interesting language that betrays an older sort of thinking about farm animals and animal welfare.
Lately some beautiful pheasants that I’m told are hybrids of Lady Amherst (sp?) and Golden Pheasants (or was it Chinese?) have been showing up at the local animal swaps. Why are they being created? (Meat, shooting, ??) How are they being created (natural breeding, AI,??) They’re simply gorgeous.
Is there any way to accomodate the smallest chicken breeds in a suburban home environment, assuming someone’s crazy enough to try?
Are there any strains of button quail left that will make any attempt at incubating therir eggs, or is that officially a lost cause now?
I have one professor who swears that eggs can be in the refrigerator for a year and still be perfectly safe.
I dunno about that, but I haven’t heard about any problems with eggs a month or two old. They might be somewhat smaller on the inside than they would be fresh. And they won’t help in any dish that needs really fresh eggs that stand up, like some of the custard desserts, or sunny-side up eggs.
Provided you keep the eggs refrigerated after they’ve been in the fridge, they rarely spoil.
About 6 weeks old.
Through exceptional breeding. Blame your parents.
Those pics are awesome! What a good keet mommy you are! And how cool that you seem to have a pied gene cropping up with regularity. Pretty!
Those little ones might need a slightly larger cat defense box. They need enough room to get away from the light when they are too hot. Maybe something like TV box sized?
The cats are hilarious!
Are these them? (scroll down to the bottom, under hybrids) Just from guessing, I’d say that these are probably created by natural servicing for the purpose of Just Because. That’s the method and rational behind lots of the crosses. They are really pretty!
Bantam chickens are a lot of fun. Most city ordinances are okay with hens (not roosters) within city limits, but some Home Owners Associations are crazy. Not news, I suppose. If you keep your birds in one of these portable poultry houses, I can’t imagine any of your neighbors would take issue. They can’t go wandering around the neighborhood in that.
I actually hadn’t heard that they were so stoic. Thanks for fighting my ignorance! I’ll see what info I can find. Maybe they only get by as a species now thanks to human intervention??
The keets were only in my care for about a week, between capturing them at the barn (ever been attacked by an infuriated guinea-mom defending her brood? OUCH!) and handing them over to a friend to raise in far more suitable conditions.
We’ve had pearl, white, and pied pearl, and had a couple of pewters in our first flock.* If you look closely at the keets-in-a-box, you’ll see that one of them is a pale blueish-gray rather than white or barred brown. That one grew up to be a light blue-gray piebald with pearl dotting. Heaven only knows what stew of pearl, white and piebald genetics produced that, what I think was either a lavender or porcelain. Here’s a color chart with both adult and keet coloring.
The cats were gobsmacked at first, then afflicted with frustrated hunting fever.
Oh, by the way, I never gave much thought to poultry till the barn owner got her first flock of guinea fowl. Now I’m hooked on observing them, they’re so amusing.
We also have wild turkeys that hang around the grounds in the fall and winter. Even had one – apparently a reject from its flock – that moved into the barn one winter.
Simply gorgeous – shot from my car window as I drove slowly past them down the driveway
Ok, got it now.
For folks who didn’t follow the link, in the movie someone asks a Mr. Know-it-All performer at a music hall “what causes Pip in Poultry?” but the questioner is immediately chastised by his wife “don’t be common!” and the question isn’t answered.
Pip, apparently, is an ancient term for birds who have acquired a hardened edge to the tip of their tongue. Apparently, this is not a particular disease, but a symptom of the bird breathing through its mouth, drying out its tongue. It’s usually seen with birds that have their nostrils clogged for one reason or another (cite)
So, how serious Pip is depends on why the bird’s nostrils are clogged. If it’s from crusted on feed, not serious. If it’s from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, serious.
I was confused at first because eggs that are just at the first stage of hatching are said to be “pipped.” A pip in the egg means the baby inside has made one hole and should finish hatching in the next few hours.
EddyTeddyFreddy, thanks for all the neat links! I actually hadn’t seen guinea fowl in different colors before. I guess the standard Pearl Grey is favored among folks who eat guinea fowl.
That picture of wild turkeys in the snow is simply divine. I work with a state educational department that, I’m sure, would love to have that pic for their yearly calendar. They make a calendar with tips on keeping birds healthy that they hand out for free. May I email you?
