A crowing hen???!!!

[zebralady]

I have a seabright bantam, almost a year old, she began crowing yesterday. I observed her crowing 6 times yesterday. I caged her to ensure that she was indeed a hen (egg laying) and low and behold she left me an egg this morning. She was crowing today too. It is definately a crow...head back breast out and cock-a-doodle-doo.......anyone else have experience with crowing hens? She is also a bit more aggressive with new hens than my other hens are....

 

[Summerlove]

Hens may do that in the absence of a roo

 

[zebralady]

A chicken breeder friend of mine suggested that she may be hermaphrodidic.....I have never heard of any of this!!! lol. The good news is that her crow is significantly quieter than a roo so I am hoping that I won't have to rehome her (I live in city limits and roos are not allowed, but, there is no ordinance regarding crowing hens )

 

[salt and pepper]

It's very rare, but it is possible. What happens is a hen has two glands in it's body. One is for female hormones, and one is for male hormones. The male hormone gland doesn't develop in a hen, but sometimes when a rooster is not in a flock, that gland in the hen's body starts growing to replace the rooster's position. What you get is a hen who is feminine, but has some masculine traits, hope this helps!

 

[zebralady]

Wonderfully helpful!! Thank you so much. I grew up with chickens when I was small but, it has been so long I just feel like a newbie all over again!