Do Chickens Ever Crow?

[MossChicks]

Our silver-laced Wyandotte is crowing regularly. We don't want a rooster and are hoping so badly that chickens sometimes crow. Am I kidding myself? We have a Buff Orpington, an Austrolorp(?) and the Wyandotte . . . all three very different chickens and 18 weeks old.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Sometimes very old hens will - sometimes they end up with reproductive tract issues and their hormones get all messed up.

 

[MossChicks]

I'm a chicken-farmer newbie. Can I tell by how the chicken looks? All three breeds we have look very different, but will the Wyandotte have a big, red comb if it's a rooster? Pepper (our Wyandotte) has some red growing under the beak but very little on the head.

 

[krista74]

Certainly a rooster will have a big red comb and wattles, but hens who are approaching laying often do too. At 18 weeks old though it should be fairly easy to tell if they are pullets or cockerels if you are familiar with the breed. The feathering, for example will be different - roosters have pointy hackle, saddle and sickle feathers by then but pullets do not.

The best suggestion I can give you is to post up a couple of pictures - a good, close up full body profile, a clear tail picture, and a head/neck picture - and I am positive someone on here will be able to clarify it for you.

Good luck!

- Krista

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

A bird that age that is crowing is male. Crowing hens are not nearly as common as you would believe from the things you read online - and they are mature hens, not young birds reaching sexual maturity.
Take a photo of your bird and post it, at the age your bird is the physical characteristics to match the crowing will be quite easy to point out fo ryou.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

As an aside - whether male or female your bird is a chicken. Males are cockerels/roosters and females are pullets/hens, but they are all chickens.

 

[MossChicks]

Thanks for the chicken education--seriously!

I thought it was like cows and bulls! I've got a lot to learn.