Transgender hen?

This is my year old buckeye. This pic is from this last spring.



This is a picture of her this morning. Now she is molting. But she grew spurs, her tail feathers are curling and her comb changed.



Here is a pic I found on the internet of a hen and cock buckeye.

This is funny! I think she's fine. Maybe just finishing up development? I have a pullet who's comb has suddenly grown HUGE and she's starting to crow... She crows AND lays eggs.
This was her a month ago on the right.


And this is her now.

sgnitto said:

This is my year old buckeye. This pic is from this last spring.



This is a picture of her this morning. Now she is molting. But she grew spurs, her tail feathers are curling and her comb changed.



Here is a pic I found on the internet of a hen and cock buckeye.

Click to expand...

She's definitely a hen, she doesn't look like a rooster to me at all.

Gender is a social construct that chickens have no concept of, so def not a transgender hen, beyond the fact gender has very little to do with sex characteristics or expression

BUT! If a hen loses the functionality of her primary ovary, or otherwise is suffering a hormonal imbalance for any number of reasons, they can develop all the secondary sex characteristics of a rooster. Spurs and crowing can occur in hens that have no issues. If she grows in sickle tail feathers and pointed hackles and ends up looking the part fully rather than just acting it, there's something off. It is more common in older hens. Since she is so young, I would be worried about an infection or even ovarian cancer. It might benefit her to be seen by a vet in such a case to confirm her health or identify what the issue is, if she goes full blow rooster regalia.

Her tail feathers are really odd, sparse and fluffy looking rather than hard feather sickles, and her comb isn't distinctly different in a way that screams Rooster instead of Productive Hen. I would wait and see, since she doesn't look different enough to cause alarm imo. Keep a close eye on her if you're worried. If there is something wrong, she could possibly be in pain. It is unlikely though!

She just looks like a hen to me. It's not uncommon for older hens to grow some spurs, and the tail feathers just look scraggly from growing in, they're not rooster-ish at all.

donrae said:

She just looks like a hen to me. It's not uncommon for older hens to grow some spurs, and the tail feathers just look scraggly from growing in, they're not rooster-ish at all.

Click to expand...

Agreed

sgnitto said:

This is my year old buckeye. This pic is from this last spring.

This is a picture of her this morning. Now she is molting. But she grew spurs, her tail feathers are curling and her comb changed.

Here is a pic I found on the internet of a hen and cock buckeye.

Click to expand...

I have a chicken that I call She Devil as she is very mean & Rooster like !
I separated her as she was "rounding up" the other girls & acting like a rooster.
I found that when I did this, after about 3 days, She Devil would "crow" to the other hens. Someone told me that she was actually a rooster. Well, if she "was" a rooster, then she was going to be famous for being male AND laying eggs !!!
Now she will crow only when she is separated from the flock.
Transgender-hen ........ Yes, I think she is.

She is finishing molting and is laying eggs again. Her hackle feathers are growing in green dots.