Hen Turning into Roo?!??!

[rosemarysugar]

I have a 1.5 year old RIR chicken who as a chick we thought was a roo ,but at about 23 weeks old he/she started laying. So we where like HE is actually SHE and that was that. When he/she was 14months old he/she stopped laying and only lays a fairy egg about once a month. Then I found out about gender changing chickens. At this time I noticed how he/she doesn't look like a hen and before he/she started molting had green/blue kind of long tail feathers, fiery orange hackle feathers, and a bigger comb than my rir hen. I went outside and looked at she/he and the spurs have slightly grown since she/he has last layed.
Could he turned into a hen (and that's why production was so bad) then now is turning back into a roo?

 

[NoFlyBackFarm]

Do you have a rooster? She may be taking over that role. A hen who does that is on top and takes on that role as flock protector.

 

[2 many chickens]

There's nothing wrong with her. She's just transgender. The tranny is finally comfortable with itself and letting the world know. Equality.

 

[Kessel23]

I have a similar problem with a leghorn hen. Chickens can not switch genders but hormones can make it look like they have switched. I think that hens start to produce male hormones on occasion when they reach old age. I also think that some hens, mainly production breeds, have messed up hormones to begin with. Including your hen and mine I have seen 3 birds like this, the other bird was a RSL that another member had. My girl had lots of growth issues early in life and ended up developing spurs and an overgrown comb. Here is a picture of her from last April, I will take an update photo when I get home.
Her comb has more than doubled in size since this was taken, her spurs have gotten larger too.

The comb is not sturdy and strong like a rooster's comb, it is just an oversized hen comb. The spurs are also not rooster like, they are thin and poorly built with no sharp tip, they seem to be growing without a purpose and I do not think they are controlled by male hormones like a rooster's spurs.

 

[Birdsong 82]

@dunnmom had a post about her chicken sounds somewhat similar Her post seemed she had spent awhile looking into it. There was some great information. I found it really interesting and I have boring hens who are one gender. Lol. But it is definitely stuff I never knew about chickens but cool to learn

 

[ChickenLeg]

She's probably becoming a roo, but she wont be able to fertilize offspring and she'll no longer lay eggs. A lady in england had this happen a few years back, saw it on youtube.

 

[rosemarysugar]

She's probably becoming a roo, but she wont be able to fertilize offspring and she'll no longer lay eggs. A lady in england had this happen a few years back, saw it on youtube.

Thankyou!

 

[rosemarysugar]

I have a similar problem with a leghorn hen. Chickens can not switch genders but hormones can make it look like they have switched. I think that hens start to produce male hormones on occasion when they reach old age. I also think that some hens, mainly production breeds, have messed up hormones to begin with. Including your hen and mine I have seen 3 birds like this, the other bird was a RSL that another member had. My girl had lots of growth issues early in life and ended up developing spurs and an overgrown comb. Here is a picture of her from last April, I will take an update photo when I get home.
Her comb has more than doubled in size since this was taken, her spurs have gotten larger too.

The comb is not sturdy and strong like a rooster's comb, it is just an oversized hen comb. The spurs are also not rooster like, they are thin and poorly built with no sharp tip, they seem to be growing without a purpose and I do not think they are controlled by male hormones like a rooster's spurs.

Thankyou!

 

[NoFlyBackFarm]

She's probably becoming a roo, but she wont be able to fertilize offspring and she'll no longer lay eggs. A lady in england had this happen a few years back, saw it on youtube.

I had someone give me a free laying hen because they thought it was a roo! They had no idea it was a trans girl!!!!

 

[Col1948]

Geez! I had no idea chickens had transgenders, this hobby gets more interesting by the day.