Hen turning into rooster?

[Viergacht]

Here's the story: Toes, my Salmon Faverolles, is the lowest on the totem pol out of my flock of 9 hens. The other hens bully her out of the coop at night so she always perches on top, so every night I have to toss her in the coop before I lock it. Last night when I went out I noticed her head looked dark (this was after sundown) and when I took her onto the porch to get a look in the light, I saw it was blood.

I brought her inside and cleaned her up. It looked like the other birds had been pecking her head, but there was no gaping wound obvious. I put antibiotic ointment on her and put her to bed in "ChickIntensive Care" - a large bunny hutch I keep inside for just such an occasion. I plan to keep an eye on her for a few days to make sure nothing gets infected.

This morning, however, I was shocked to hear her let out five or six "cock-a-doodle-doo!" sounds! Now she tends to be very talkative and makes noises almost constantly, but this was an unmistakable crow. Is she turning into a rooster? She's not even a year old yet and from what I've read this normally happens to older hens. Or was she just crowing because she missed the rest of the flock? Faverolles roosters are distinctly colored and I haven't noticed any new plumage. I don't know if it's important info but her eggs seem to have been very thin-shelled lately.

 

[NatJ]

Is she turning into a rooster?...I don't know if it's important info but her eggs seem to have been very thin-shelled lately.

If she lays eggs, she is a hen. No doubt about that.

Hens do not turn into roosters (so she will never fertilize eggs, and you will never hatch chicks that have her as their father.) Edit to add: some hens, on occasion, do grow feathers like a rooster--sounds like yours hasn't done that, at least not yet. But male feathers don't change the actual gender.

Some hens just do crow

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Extensive injuries can sometimes lead to hormone problems which can make a hen begin developing male traits such as sounds and feathering. But they will never fertilize eggs

 

[Viergacht]

Right - I know she isn't turning into an actual rooster, but hens can develop male secondary sex characteristics like feathering, big combs and crowing if something knocks out their one ovary. I was wondering if the crowing might be an early sign of that, or if hens crow just for kicks on occasion.

 

[Viergacht]

Extensive injuries can sometimes lead to hormone problems which can make a hen begin developing male traits such as sounds and feathering. But they will never fertilize eggs

Right, I was just wondering if it was an early sign of hormone problems or if she was just being weird. She normally vocalizes a lot but I've never heard her actually crow.

 

[NatJ]

Right - I know she isn't turning into an actual rooster

Some people don't know that, so we were just making sure

but hens can develop male secondary sex characteristics like feathering, big combs and crowing if something knocks out their one ovary. I was wondering if the crowing might be an early sign of that, or if hens crow just for kicks on occasion.

Could be either way. You'll probably know in a few months, but I don't know of any way to be sure soon. Even if she is doing that, it may not be permanent. I've read of hens that started to crow, grew male feathers, quit laying eggs--and later went back to normal and started laying eggs again.

 

[3KillerBs]

Now and then you get a hen who simply crows.

My daughter's mother-in-law had a crowing hen who happened to be her most dependable layer.

Go figure.