Since the days have been getting shorter and the weather has been rainy, I haven't had a chance to spend much quality time with the "ladies" in the backyard. Cam does a wonderful job of tucking them in at night and making sure they are safe and sound from any backyard critters. After 2 or 3 days of not really seeing them I made it a point to go out and sit with them until they called it a night...and that's when I realized, Shelly is a Rooster!
Since I'm not a chicken expert (YET!) I was hoping that my feeling was wrong and started referring to good old GOOGLE but was so impatient that I just called the Urban Farm Store where we got her..him. Pete told me to look for pointed 'saddle' feathers at the base of her body near her tail so I ran out and looked and sure enough, Shelly was a Shelldon. It explained a lot about her/his personality and also just how BEAUTIFUL (handsome!) she is! The first thing I did was cry. I love that little chick that EggBerta raised from 3 days old and since roosters aren't allowed within city limits we technically have to get rid of her...him. Another reason for my tears was a bit selfish, or maybe just the farmer in me coming out ~ he's not going to lay eggs! He's an Ameracauna and the hens lay variations of blue, pink, and green eggs or so I hear. Eggberta was supposed to be an Ameracauna but she turned into a Wyandotte, so when she went broody I tried for the Ameracauna again :( 
With the holidays approaching I didn't want to split up the "family". The Urban Farm Store will take him back (and NOT turn him into stew), but we've decided to keep him until he starts being noisy! He's 4 months old now, and they usually don't crow until about 8 months. We're hoping that maybe he won't crow since he's surrounded by hens so maybe he won't learn how? Wishful thinking but it's stopped the tears for now. To be honest he has become a little "cocky" (pun intended) so maybe when the crowing comes I will be happy to say goodbye!
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