A hen that crows - need advice

[Silkie2005]

It is possible that she is going through a sex change, I have heard that happens sometimes, but that is EXTREMELY rare. It is probably this thing that happened to one of my LF hens. In the absence of a cockerel, some hens (usually the top hen) get a rush of hormones that makes it act like it is the rooster, my LF hen even went as far as to mount and "mate" with the other hens.

 

[aart]

She is one year old.

Was she laying before this last winter?
Is she laying now?

It is possible that she is going through a sex change, I have heard that happens sometimes, but that is EXTREMELY rare. It is probably this thing that happened to one of my LF hens. In the absence of a cockerel, some hens (usually the top hen) get a rush of hormones that makes it act like it is the rooster, my LF hen even went as far as to mount and "mate" with the other hens.

It's not really a 'sex change'.
It's a hormone balance change.
Hens only have one ovary...simplistically, if it stops functioning testosterone over balances estrogen and physical characteristics can appear(male plumage, larger spurs) and behavior(crowing).
Even laying females can mount other birds as a dominance behavior.

 

[Silkie2005]

Was she laying before this last winter?
Is she laying now?


It's not really a 'sex change'.
It's a hormone balance change.
Hens only have one ovary...simplistically, if it stops functioning testosterone over balances estrogen and physical characteristics can appear(male plumage, larger spurs) and behavior(crowing).
Even laying females can mount other birds as a dominance behavior.

Dippy (my hen who acted like a rooster) wasn't doing the usual thing of pecking them and mounting then like they do in regards to the pecking order, she was doing what my roosters do by holding them by the neck feathers and lifting up the tail as if attempting to mate. She was unfortunately killed by a fox in 2017, would have liked to see how she turned out.

 

[Silkie2005]

She was definitely a girl ❤

 

[Silkie2005]

I am not sure, perhaps she was just a confused chicken

 

[Phocyn]

Lol... i had two bantams (roo and hen) that back and forthed until they were put together. They've passed away since but.... good luck.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I have a Delaware hen that will crow when she wants out of the run. If I get up late and don't let them out by 8am she will crow to let me know it's time. Actually she did this for a week or so, but has stopped now. I try to get my dead weight out of bed and out to free them by 8am, but don't always make it. Maybe she just wanted something? Maybe she will stop too? Good luck. You don't have to worry unless there are more than one complaint, and it sounds like your neighbors won't do that!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thank you all!

@aart - Yes, she was laying almost all of last summer.
Yep! She's laying right now.

 

[Julia_Bedenbaugh]

I have a Plymouth Rock hen and two Orpington hens that all crow. Most of the time, if I remove one of the Orpingtons and keep her in the house in my large dog crate, the other two usually will not crow. As soon as I add her back out there, the three of them go crow crazy. The Orpingtons are just under a year old, they all lay, and they all crow. My other two little yellow ones don't crow at all.

 

[Chickassan]

I wouldn't worry about it, she's a hen and the rules are for roosters not hens.
Technicalities are nice sometimes.