HOW DO I GET MY CROWING HEN BACK TO NORMAL EGG LAYING HEN?

[crazy huhn]

Strange but sadly true: My best egg laying hen has started to crow in the afternoon and now also at 6AM. She is only a little over a year old and I am not sure if she still lays eggs right now. She certainly is the Alpha-hen, protects the chicken lowest in the pecking order from the others. Her comb has become bright, bigger and more red, no changes in her plumage yet. I do not think it has anything to do with an illness or so (except mentally.....)How do I get her out of this habit fast? Would putting her in a box in the garage with water and food help and how long? Will she ever start laying again?

I just cannot have any crowing hen or rooster, the neighbors would probably call animal control and that would be the end of all my chickens.

 

[pips&peeps]

I don't think animal control could do anything about it as she is not a rooster......

The following is a quote from the Merck Veterinary Manual:

If the normal left ovary of a hen is destroyed by infection, the vestigial right organ may develop as a testicle and the hen may develop male characteristics. Neoplasia in the adrenal glands or ovary that result in the production of testosterone could also cause the development of male secondary sexual characteristics (comb and wattles) in affected females.

 

[crazy huhn]

Unfortunately, it will be a nuissance and they have to go if somebody complains (according to the latest newspaper article in our city).

However, does anybody here have suggestions (except stew pot or BBQ ) ?

 

[ravenfeathers]

it's a hormonal or psychological and therefore atavistic behaviour. i don't think you'll stop it, unfortunately. you could consider rehoming her or "trading" with someone who doesn't mind the noise, although there's no guarantee that future hens won't start bellowing.

my hen crows, but she still lays.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I've heard this can happen in flocks without roosters. I even have a neighbor that had the same problem, she got a roo and the hen went back to being a hen.

 

[crazy huhn]

I found her dead in the coop last night......

It was already dark, so I tried to examine her as good as possible. She was 100 % OK the day before (except crowing). I did not find any injury or illness signs, parasites, enlarged organs or so. Also no signs of internal infections. She was not laying any eggs either.
Today I have scrubbed the coop, disinfected everything, changed out the bedding etc., just in case...., but Thank God, all my other chickens seem to be OK.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

You may want to have a vet do a necropsy.

 

[austinhart123]

ugh thats a toughy, i would say get a roo so she dosent have to be the roo but u said u cant have a roo

 

[Attack Chicken]

Im so sorry you lost her

Maybe someone poisoned her?If so you might want to find out and make sure none of the other catch or eat it. Where I live its ok to have chickens as long as you don't eat them.

 

[crazy huhn]

Thank You "Attack Chicken". I am sure that nobody poisened her. My big guess is, that some kind of cancer has caused a hormonal change and the atrophie of her ovary/ies, like some of you guys have mentioned before. Good news is, that all my other chickens old and young are just fine......

Oh, and I could never eat one of my girls, even if I could have some for human consumption. Actually I am eating about 90% less chicken meat in general since I have my own. Tried to be 100% vegetarian before, but I lost a lot of hair, so my doctor wanted me back on animal protein. But I do not want to get into that one. It would be a whole different post......