Hen is changing appearance looking like Roo

[Ema]

I have 21 Rhode Island Reds and a few months back I had a hen that suddenly stopped laying everyday, it went to about every other day, then every three days, and now nothing, I get 20 eggs per day without fail now. Because I have been working a lot dh has been caring for the girls, well 2 days ago when I came home he said one of the hens is starting to look different. He told me that her comb was getting huge and super red, and that her waddles were growing and she was getting all these white feathers everywhere. I was like ya ok what ever, but sure enough I went to see her today and she is beginning to look like a Rhode Island Red Roo. She seems more aggressive and she is overseeing everything that goes on in the coop. Before this changes she was top hen, I guess she still is. But is this possible, she is healthy, no issues I can see at all, her plumage looks fantastic, Can a hen take on the appearance of a Roo, or turn into a roo. I know how it sounds, please don't laugh at me, ahahahaha.

Ema

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Did either of ya'll find anything looking like a soft shelled egg or small rubbery turd? May have lost it's ovary. No worries, I had a Black Sexie do the same thing. She was the best Roo I had!! None of the other Roos would mess with Broomhilda! She would knock them flat!!!

 

[Ema]

no rubbery eggs, no soft shelled eggs since they began laying. We did find this puny egg about the size of a quail egg to be exact. It had a yolk but it was soo tiny, lol.

I am not real worried about it, I am just perplexed that she acted and looked like everyone else and now she is changing colour and appearance, she is 9 months old, but is she ever beautiful. I need to get some pics and post them up. I suppose if she doesn't lay anymore she will likely be the one Hen I keep as a pet :-D lol.

Ema

 

[Tala]

RIR roos do not have white feathers everywhere . . . a pic would be interesting though, even better if you happen to have before and after shots lol

 

[Ema]

I do have a before shot of her, actually i got several cause she always gets in front of the camera when I try to take pics. I know RIR's roos aren't white all over, but these are hatchery, so I don't know, I did order only 20 and ended up with 21. So maybe this one is a mix of some sort

I know my gf ordered at the same time she got sex links and fr a while I thought I had the same breed, but I looked at the invoice after my chickens and hers turned out to look different and saw mine said RIR's Pullets, my g/f also ended up with a 21st hen and hers turned out to be a leghorn roo.

maybe she is a late bloomer, lol...but she was giving me some real nice dark big eggs, now none :-(

 

[Ema]

I was looking for a pic of her and duhh its on my avatar she was 10 weeks old there. as she got older she got darker and now she is getting lighter I will try to get dh to get a pic tomorrow.

 

[sourland]

A friend of mine has a 4 year old RIR that went broody last year. After brooding for a month or so (no fertile eggs) she gave up and went into a molt. During the molt, she transformed from a hen into a rooster. Such sex change occurences are generally associated with ovarian tumors, and yes they do happen. The change is in appearance only. They are unable to fertilize eggs though they may start mating the other hens.

 

[farmerChef]

It sounds like she's taking over the rooster position.

 

[debilorrah]

If all you have are hens, she is taking the dominant roll. You may never see an egg from her again. Change her name to Ru Paul.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Quote:

X2.... yep she is filling the role.