Crowing hen

[megg0602]

HAHA! that's a lot of female hormones flying around! Yes it's def a learning experience here as well. Just started with chickens for the first time and I have 6. but what I an say is that she hasn't done it before and hasn't done it since! haha Whew, I'm just glad I didn't have to give her back to the farm if she was a rooster

 

[chooks4life]

@sybratten: that's a rooster.

This is Graybird - a 20 week old easter egger (I'm told). I thought Gray was a hen until yesterday, she/he crowed. Can anyone tell from this pic if hen or rooster and confirm breed? Thank you.

Breed I don't know, it looks like a mixed breed including possibly Swedish flower hen and a blue-laced red wyandotte maybe? Sorry, I'm not sure, I'm new to some of these breeds. I'm sure someone more experienced can tell you pretty definitively, though my mongrel chooks have produced all sorts of randoms who could be passed off as being from so many different breeds... So no guarantees. As always it could just be a female overdosed with male hormones that's developing male feathering. But those feathers starting to come in at the top of its neck, top of its lower back, and top of its wings are all typically male feathers.

In my experience with crowing hens, it was triggered by random events. I had layer and orpington birds that grew normal spurs and mated with other hens, not just mounted but did the whole thing normally, including the dragging-wing-strut and all; these hens weren't the ones that crowed; they were good layers the whole time. Normal hens without spurs, young ones, have been the only ones that have crowed in my flock so far. It seemed more due to a traumatic experience and was temporary. They did practice crows like cockerels, but over a few days progressed to full crows, though they did prefer to go off in the morning as some people have noted. I also have one little banty who always sings along with her boyfriend, just the one rooster, when he crows, and that's unlike any other chook noise I've heard, but it's not a proper crow at all. Most people do seem to find it happens to older hens after 'henopause' and I think it's more common in commercial high production layer breeds.

 

[BuffBeck]

I might have a "crowing" hen too. I wonder if these are more common than we think they are? What do you make of this:

I have Marc Sacre Orpingtons [hens and roos] that are under one year old right now. [December 2013]

These chickens seem to be deeper and more throaty-sounding in their clucks and cackles over all, possibly because they are massive, but one or two of my hens-(?), who look just like all the other girls in body type, sometimes elongate their clucks to make them sound like they are being murdered or choking on a hairball. It's really a very disturbing sound! I seems like it happens most when they go to the coop to lay their eggs (at least I believe they are all laying). My rooster is doing his job, so I am very puzzled.

What I wonder is, since I am interested in breeding my Orpingtons and possibly showing them, could this be a bad thing for my breeding program? Should I cull those hens, even if they are really nice? Could the person I bought my hatching eggs from have possibly bred brother to sister one too many times...? I really have no idea.

Possibilities:
-scared
-can't find a good spot to lay
-hormonaly imbalanced
-informing the world that she's done laying
-"Queen" of the Flock
-Hermorphadite
-others?

Thank You,
BuffBeck

 

[chooks4life]

Chickens have a very wide variety of sounds they make, including 'dinosaur roars' and 'growls' and 'complaining' etc. Elongated noises are common enough! I wouldn't cull for it unless they are too vocal too often. I don't appreciate any animal making an abnormal amount of noise for an abnormal period of time without due cause. It's often quite hereditary and can be learned by others.

Some are neurotic and will get into a 'state' and be unable to stop. I've had some hens spend all day every day making the alarm call (aka egg song) nonstop until they literally suffered for lack of oxygen, but couldn't seem to stop. Had to cull that out of some but retrained others.

I believe the "egg song" is actually the alarm call since it is identical, but over thousands of generations of having their nests raided by humans, hens learnt to make the alarm call when exiting the nest since a human raid was often imminent. In the wild, a hen who makes a raucous noise as she exits the next soon wouldn't have a clutch since she'd draw predators to it. Hence she wouldn't pass on her genes and the trait would die out.

I reckon your hens are complaining. Someone would have a sample of normal complaining noises. Generally they make this noise when wanting a nest to themselves, or wanting to be released from a cage, or when they don't like the environment, or want a rooster. In your case I think they're unhappy with your nesting situation.

Best wishes.

 

[BuffBeck]

Yes, that could be it... Thank you for the information, chooks4life!
Very Interesting that part about natural selection and alarm calls.
I'll see what I can do about my nest boxes to improve them.

 

[chooks4life]

Best wishes with that. It is just a theory of mine regarding the potential reason why the alarm call is the same as the egg song, not an accepted fact.

 

[beckymrh]

this morning one of my 6 chickens crowed. I don't know which one. It freaked me out! I thought they were all hens...

 

[chooks4life]

They might be. Better chances you've got a male though. Can you post any pics of them?

Best wishes.

 

[beckymrh]

well three out of six were male. My husband made them into mole .... One of my hens keeps scrunching down and wiggling her wings so I will scratch her back. Does she want me to mate with her or what?!? I didn't know chickens could be so affectionate! he he he

 

[chooks4life]

Many hens will crouch to invite mating in inappropriate situations i.e. for humans and other species. I suspect that's got something to do with the unwarranted prevalence of AI in some breeds, much like roosters mating humans' hands, feet etc, it's due to interference with sexual instincts in most cases and due to confusion or mis-imprinting in others.

Some people even expect hens to crouch for humans, they believe it's a sign of sexual maturity or affection or subordination. The only hens I've ever had that crouched for humans were from intensive layer breeds, mine are plenty tame but don't expect me to mate with them, lol.