Gender confused chicken

[crayon]

I have a hen- first off her name is Buddy- yeah, I know, we really set her up to be confused! Well, she thinks she is a rooster. She is so dang butch! She never lets the rooster mate with her- I swear she would chase him around the yard first. She chases the dog, and is always fronting him (charging).

Has anyone else ever have a gender confused chicken?

:-D

 

[speckledhen]

She's not in the least confused. You may think she is, but she knows what's what. Some hens are just tough. I have an Ameraucana who never lets any rooster mate her. She is over 4 years old and in all the eggs incubated by myself and others, only one has ever been fertile. She just slips away every time.

 

[kjfrogster41]

I also have a hen who feels that not only is she queen of the coop, she is, at times, quite aggressive. From the time she was just a sweet yellow fuzz ball, she has never liked being handled and has always been the pushy broad.

At times she seems to be in a bad mood and will even attack me, pecking me aggressively. I don't let her get away with that behavior and she does back down if I yell, "NO!" and pin her down for a minute. Most of the time she's O.K. but she will never be snugley like her sisters. I assume that this is just her personality, that some hens are just more aggressive and want to be high on the pecking order?

Does any one else have feisty hens?

 

[cafarmgirl]

I have a hen- first off her name is Buddy- yeah, I know, we really set her up to be confused! Well, she thinks she is a rooster. She is so dang butch! She never lets the rooster mate with her- I swear she would chase him around the yard first. She chases the dog, and is always fronting him (charging).

Has anyone else ever have a gender confused chicken?

:-D

She's just the boss hen and she knows it, no confusion whatsoever in her mind! Some boss hen's will also crow. I have two hens who live outside my coop/run in their own space. One has taken on the role of rooster for their little flock of two. She crows and otherwise act's rooish towards "her" hen. She also lays eggs and occasionally goes briefly broody.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

One time our farmyard flock lost our excellent rooster (and some hens) to the chronically roaming dog of an extremely inconsiderate neighbor.

This was one of the few times we did not have a rooster in training to take over the lead, so one of the younger adult hens took the job! She did everything the rooster had done (except mating!) and even developed a sort of strangled, but respectable crow. Don't know if she continued laying, as we never kept track things like that. It was long ago.

 

[SilkiesForEver]

I have a Rhode Island Red hen that is like a roo but doesn't crow. Your bird is not gender confused she is just the head lady.

 

[crayon]

Haha- mine is a RIR as well! I just caught her pecking at the dog who was laying down in the yard. She gets so right in her face. I don't know if I would rate her as a "head hen" In fact she is quite nice to all the other hens and also the babies and lets us hold her (one of the only ones)- man she is funny tho! I figure we will either find a dead dog or a dead chicken one of these days. But my big huge bird dog (german shorthaired pointer) is totally scared of her! lol....

 

[foodieandeggs]

I also have a hen who feels that not only is she queen of the coop, she is, at times, quite aggressive. From the time she was just a sweet yellow fuzz ball, she has never liked being handled and has always been the pushy broad.

At times she seems to be in a bad mood and will even attack me, pecking me aggressively. I don't let her get away with that behavior and she does back down if I yell, "NO!" and pin her down for a minute. Most of the time she's O.K. but she will never be snugley like her sisters. I assume that this is just her personality, that some hens are just more aggressive and want to be high on the pecking order?

Does any one else have feisty hens?

I came to BYC today for this reason. I now have someone who can relate to me. My GSL has been aggressive with me but I don't let her get away with it. Yesterday I went out to check on them and I went to pet her and she PUFFED UP and was like BACK OFF and bit me. YES! I have plenty of marks on my fingers. Well after she did it I said "NOOOOOO!". I could not imagine if she did that to my 3 year old niece (She loves chickens).The first time she was aggressive with me, I was appalled. She was the little yellow fluff ball that you would see in a Easter basket. Now she is at the top of the pecking order. I think that it is her personalty or something. Maybe she is getting ready to lay. I try to pick her up and pet her to try to calm her down. My goodness, its hard to watch her peck all of her fellow chicken friends. Is there a way to stop this?