Increasing Estrogen in Hen due to Gender Dysphoria Disorder?

[aart]

Typically, when female acts as the 'protector' due to no male birds present, do they also stop egg production?

Hens can act as a 'protector' and flock leader and still lay eggs.
If a hen has damage to the ovary, then more male behaviors and appearances can happen due to an imbalance of male vs female hormones.
I had a 2-3yo EE hen start crowing and help the cock 'herd' the flock one winter.
It was after her molt and before she started laying again and lasted a couple-few months.
Once she started laying again the crowing stopped.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

"Is it really a problem with me rather than the hen for trying to get egg production back to my normal amount?"
"chicken behavior is restricted to boys vs girls"

Until you can show me a chicken flock decides a hen that crows isn't welcome in the flock anymore, yeah, I've got no evidence this has anything to do with the chickens. It seems it's got WAY more to do with your human ideas about what a chicken "Should Be". Your chickens certainly don't have a problem with it.
Honestly, it's amazing how often animals don't read our human manuals about how they should behave, isn't it?

Like, you can try to "fix it" but your chickens aren't broken, any more than my blue egg layers are broken when one comes out laying brown. If my blue laying flock lays brown, the chicken is perfectly normal and healthy. It might be something I need to address for my needs but there's nothing wrong with my hens and if I think otherwise, well... That's also a me problem.

Your chickens aren't missing anything. Their hormones are probably normal for their situation. It's evolutionarily beneficial for your hens - and roosters! - to have diverse behavior. Chances are good if you pull this hen another may even take its place. Pretty much everyone here's telling you it's normal. You can take it, you can leave it, you can feed soy or cull your hen. But diversity in gender based behavior is normal across the animal kingdom.

It's not outrageous to ask but you don't seem to care for the answer either...

 

[EggSighted4Life]

The bird is 8 & 1/2 months old.

I'm only on page one.. but this alone gives rise to speculation that your bird is just misidentified by you and stepping into their natural role as next inline previously subordinate cockerel.. not a hen at all. And also possibly never returning his previous confidence that was mistaken for "sweetness".. IF I am correct. I will still be reading the thread once this posts.. but asking for photos if they haven't already been posted.

Most folk on here are looking to stop hens from laying due to reproductive disorders and giving implants the opposite what you are asking. Some however have looked at implants to induce chemical made capons.. so looking at some of those threads might be useful for you.

Aart hit the nail in the head.. about human terms not being relevant per say.. But I too have learned much of this along the way.. previously referring to outbreaks of hormonal teenage boys forcibly mating the gals.. as rape.. turns out it's just assault or forced copulation perhaps.. but just nature playing out to the best of it's ability within my unnatural habitat.. where things can get a little off the hook at times.

Plus thank God for my new understanding.. that ALL of us are doing what comes natural to us.. whether it's considered the norm or not.. Realizing that spontaneous gender reversal.. A) is even possible, B) is completely out of our control.. Has been so healing for my judgmental and misunderstanding heart, sometimes self righteous heart.

FWIW.. No one ever "fixes" broody hormones.. they just temporarily disrupt them.. They become broody again. Some gals when allowed to compete the cycle will only do it once or twice per year. Others will try to brood back to back to back.. no matter how many times you let them raise chicks OR "break" (never called fix) them.. Interesting things to think on though!

think I missed this, as it is no longer here. But, no worries. This was certainly not a joke though.

Post that aren't done politically correctly are being deleted by moderators quickly these days. What we see is what we are allowed to see according to the powers that be that run this site which we agree to the rules of (including what's viewed by myself as censorship) by continuing to use what has thus far been one of the best online communities. As someone puts thought and effort into most of my post.. I question MY need for continued participation.. but life changes and we with it.. And this is all part of the learning and growing process that's still working itself out.. So while I feel very frustrated.. about something that's been integral to my chicken life and aspect beyond changing.. I also ask myself what am I supposed to learn from this.. while trying no to have a knee jerk reaction that diminishes the what this community has helped to build up in me. Hopefully since you are the OP and I'm responding in kind manner to a statement made specifically by you, this will not be seen as openly challenging the mods but rather supporting the community as we GROW through this.

One huge note on the subject of hen feeling the need to fill the role of the rooster.. someone NEEDS to fill the top spot period.. None of my top hens have had any issues filling their roles. One did start crowing at about two years old. One red pullet was a beyotch to another subordinate and insisted on mounting her.. as a sign of dominance not because she was confused about her gender.. Pecking order means crud rolls down hill! Dogs, ducks, guinea pigs.. many many species mount each other as a sign of dominance without it being a sexual display or having any put of balance hormones.

I'm not quite sure whether to be hopeful your pullet is having hormone issues that might resolve or hope it just a cockerel that might work out for your flock.. But one way or the other.. I hope it works out in the best way possible for you and the bird in question..

Also maybe I will see photos as I continue to read through.

 

[abujumana]

Howdy.

I may have a hen that suffers from Gender Dysphoria Disorder. I want to try to increase her estrogen levels to see if that fixes her transgender desires. I recently rehomed a rooster and she may feel the need to fill his place.

Any natural remedies to this? i.e. a veggie? Any pre-fab supplements or food packs?

Thanks! All tips appreciated.

I heard that there are injections that help with this matter, but I did not remember its name, and it helps in raising the efficiency of hormones and stabilizing the type

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I heard that there are injections that help with this matter, but I did not remember its name, and it helps in raising the efficiency of hormones and stabilizing the type

It's worth noting that those injections are illegal if you're selling the birds or using them for food (eggs or meat).

Fine for pets and not for pretty much anything else.

 

[NatJ]

Personally, I would probably cull the hen, unless she's a beloved pet.

I was wanting to check to see if I could feed her more of something to rebalance her hormones. I am not trying to subvert natural tendencies, just want my sweet hen back.

Given how many other problems can be fixed by improving nutrition, that was a reasonable question. (Softshell eggs, poor growth rates, poor feathering, hard molts, feather picking, crooked toes--all can be caused by nutritional issues, although all of them can also be caused by other things.)

Unfortunately, if there is a nutritional fix for a hen who stops laying and acts like a male, I've never heard of it.

If there were a nutritional deficiency in your normal chicken feed, I would expect them all to be affected. But if the others are normal, then either she has different needs than the others, or it is not nutritional. And if her needs are different, I've got no clue how to figure out what she needs.

I am positive this bird is female, as she has laid eggs previously. No eggs anymore though.

Well, that certainly answers all the questions about whether "she" is really a cockerel

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Good to know. Typically, when female acts as the 'protector' due to no male birds present, do they also stop egg production?

Egg production is effected by many things.. including changes to flock dynamics, hours of daylight, nutrition, predator visits, genetics, on and on.. being top of the pecking order does NOT decrease my egg production in hens.

I would suspect your gal that previously laid eggs (presuming it wasn't someone else's being mistaken for hers).. is taking over the top spot BUT being effected by daylight hours decreasing... Noting Silkie are NOT a wise choice for layer productivity.. and broodiness is the number one thing that makes them act like jerks with no eggs.. At the stated age though.. kinda teenager, still maturing, might act out and then come back around like you are hoping!

Will all due respect, chicken behavior is restricted to boys vs girls.

No, the only behaviors restricted by gender in chickens is egg laying and egg fertilization.. everything else.. including crowing, growing spurs, even sitting and hatching eggs IS negotiable.

A cockerel or cock can never lay an egg. A pullet or hen can never fertilize an egg.

A pullet or hen can have an infertile egg start to develop an embryo but it will never make it to term or hatch because simply it doesn't have all the genetic information it needs.

ALL my birds this year.. quit laying.. had mini molts.. check her for pin feathers.. and maybe be patient.. I sold off all of them presuming genetic weakness.. but kicking myself now.. as so many others report their SAME aged birds as mine were ALSO NOT laying!

My nutrition is right. Daylight will start increasing again after December 21.. I would look into daylight before dumping a bird for not laying this year.. The Silkies I had that were NOT excessively broody were actually pretty good layer.. 4 eggs a week, medium sized by about 2 years old.

If there were a nutritional deficiency in your normal chicken feed, I would expect them all to be affected.

Silkies specifically proved to me this is not true.. and individual genetics matter so much.. for instance.. if one had coccidiosis when young and the others didn't maybe their intestines were effected more and less effective at absorption perhaps.. and I can see the birds in question are two different varieties.. just for conversation purposes.. It was my hatching eggs (failure analysis) though that revealed among the same flock (breed) with the same feed and routine some individuals MAY require extra help.. or on my case where I select only the best of the best culling by eating or selling the rest, or the one that isn't thriving under MY conditions.. Those I valued as pets and still considered viable would be sold to good homes. Those I have no connection with or really won't work for someone else gotta serve their purpose also.

Given how many other problems can be fixed by improving nutrition, that was a reasonable question.

I agree it's a reasonable question.

I also agree that nutrition will have no impact on the actual condition being questioned if it were hormone related.

Dear OP.. I saw you say they are livestock and pets.. I would be patient and give her a chance to return to lay and her former friendliness.. many new layers are not consistent from the get and will level off better with some maturity. This is for the pet part. But for the livestock part.. I think supporting a bird through molt to get larger eggs is more affordable than raising new chicks and waiting forever for eggs.. Or maybe a wash.. depending on your cost of certain things.. sorry.. I've over thought every penny/ounce/ingredient that a trip to the market is a nightmare for me.

However, if the silly pathetic hen crowing (I've heard it) doesn't desist and lay come on no later than say late January (or whatever time frame you see fit, I'm thinking daylight hours).. then it sounds like culling may be the right choice for you. If not to another home.. they dress fine for the table or make perfect pet food or compost/fertilizer. The cost of implant to increase laying (if you even could.. since chickens are hatched with ALL of the ovum follicles on board that will ever become eggs and also it's not just about getting the follicle to release but all the other part to unify) would seem to negate the cost of keeping the animal at all being described as half and half.. what folks are willing or able to do for full blown pets is often much different than those being raised as livestock as I know it... which is literally what feeds your family and their life depends on it working properly without fail and within a finite amount of resources.

My (non obsessive) crowing hen.. didn't lay for more than a year.. she was one of only 2 out of hundreds of birds who got "Pet" status much earlier in her life due to personality which she maintained the entire time. At 3 years old she unexpectedly returned to lay!

 

[abujumana]

I heard that there are injections that help with this matter, but I did not remember its name, and it helps in raising the efficiency of hormones and stabilizing the type

Of course, I am with you in this answer, and for my own breeding method, I use natural herbs,Here is one of the useful herbs for that, such as garlic, which can raise the sexual efficiency of birds, and despite the long-term results, but it is good for me.