How Do You Stop a Hen From Crowing?

[pcxtrader]

I have a chicken that crows. I know she's a she because she lays eggs. She crowed a lot and then she seemed to lose her voice; I think she could be sick :/

 

[ariadne]

These are roosters in the last post....This thread is good for a laugh...Been raising chickens for sixty five years...Traveled in far away places ...Never actually seen nor heard a female chicken crow....Have read about it here and other places......Mistaken identification and pure bullcrap explains a lot of it....Some true  of course..These exceptions make life really interesting.......

My friend has a araucana that lays eggs (had been for years) and crowed until she got roosters.

It happens. It's not unheard of.

 

[Blooie]

I finally gave my annoying crowing hen to a lady who lives out of town. Yes, Jane's eggs were nice to have, but the noise 15 feet from my bedroom window - not so much!

 

[perchie.girl]

I had four hens All EEs funny little group.

I was cleaning the front porch one day and I heard a Kazoo kind of sound behind me... I said "NO" it cant be... I turned around just in time to see the biggest hen flap her wings and ERRr rrr rrrrrrrr . No change in egg production. But I guarantee you within 48 hours There is a white Leghorn Roo strutting his stuff up and down the fence.... "you rang"

The oddest thing was This was in the city.

Once he showed up she stopped crowing "that job done"

I think what is happening with back yard chickens is we are seeing behaviors you would not normally see in a larger flock with a couple of Roos in attendance.

Oh yes there are the times where ovary infection causes behavior change sometimes even permanently.... But I don' think this is the case for all crowing hens.

I am not scientist ... so I could be totally wrong here....

deb

 

[Bobatisa]

I would take her in a second. There is nothing better than animals talking. Much better than people..
Arline

 

[jenhen215]

I also have an EE hen that crows every morning. She was always a bit noisy, but when she lost her coop buddies it got much worse. Apparently the top hen can develop rooster-like qualities in the absence of a rooster. They will produce more testosterone leading to enlarged combs & wattles, drop in egg production & even grow spurs. I haven't noticed a drop in egg production or any of these issues, yet. I think this problem may occur more often in small backyard flocks that lack a rooster. I live in the city where chickens are not legal, but tolerated in my neighborhood (it's more suburban). Luckily my neighbors are ok with it, I'll just have to give them eggs haha. I have 2 new pullets that are almost ready to join her in the coop. I'm hoping it will quiet down a bit when she has "friends" as she is definitely lonely. She will stop crowing when I come out & give her attention/treats, so I guess she has me trained.

 

[wondering2]

All these smug buggers who assume crowing hens are really roosters. They're not. I've seen two in my lifetime. One hen was near the bottom of the pecking order, but as she got older, she picked up a few male characteristics: bigger redder comb and wattles, fuller tail. Super gorgeous white and grey colouring. She was the only white egg layer of my flock though, I assure you that she was a hen in the egg department. She started crowing when we had to put her in a quarantine pen for a bit. No longer at the bottom of the pecking order, she thought she was big and bad, and started full on crowing first thing in the morning, usually right after she laid her egg. Stopped as soon as she got out of quarantine and back in with the other hens who quickly disabused her of the notion that she was Top Hen, and she quit crowing.

Given that people can have all kinds of interesting chromosomal things going on - X, XXY, XYY, etc - I see no reason why we can't also have chickens who mix and match attributes.

Have none of you heard the old folk saying "Whistling girls and crowing hens, always come to some bad ends" that they used to say to girls to discourage tomboy behaviour?

 

[deakos]

Over the past 4 years I have had a few hens in the backyard, all laying with clearly distinguishable eggs (so I know who laid, when). I started with 3 hens and after the first year, the alpha female (Leghorn) began attempting 1 or 2 rooster crows, but it was irregular. Her sister (Leghorn), the #2 rank, passed away from uterine cancer after about 2 years, and the #1 after 3 years from being egg-bound (she hadn't laid for 2 years, vet thought it was also uterine cancer based on X-rays when she was alive). My Buff Orpington was at the bottom of the pecking order but quickly became alpha to the two new young hens (Leghorn and Rhode Island Red). My Buff has been relatively quiet for the past 4 years but in the past 6 months after becoming alpha, began to occasionally crow in the mornings. At first it was a poor attempt and only 2 or 3 crows but it has now evolved to several times a day and 7 or 8 crows each time. It definitely seems related to attention getting. At first I would run into the backyard and spray her with water to stop the behavior but the attention she got was more reinforcing than the deterrent of water. Now I just ignore her but I fear the neighbors will only tolerate it so much longer. She still lays every other day and she gets very broody once every few months. When broody, I can usually break her in a few days but it sure is nice to enjoy the quiet for those couple of days. I love my Buff but sure wish I could train away the crowing.

 

[blackwpk]

I have a 11 month old hen, laying nearly everyday, that has recently taken up crowing. She definitely isn’t a rooster. I lived near a city that says NO ROOSTERS. As soon as she starts in on the crowing I dash out to shush her. I have a dog kennel but I would hate to put her in it every night and bring her inside. Anything I can do differently???

 

[black_cat]

hens do not crow, you can say yes its a she, but if SHE is crowing then she is a he LOL maybe you better post a pic of her/he so the experts here can tell you what it is.

Some hens will crow, usually if there is not a rooster in the flock. It's something with hormones I think? @aart knows much more about it than I do I think. (Sorry if I tagged the wrong person)