Is my hermaphrodite chicken causing flock discord?

[Ana Robin]

Hi, all.

I have a flock of 29 chickens... 27 hens, 1 roo and 1 hermie. I say the one is a hermie because it (Jackie) has a very large comb and waddle and big feet and has been relentlessly picked at off and on for 1.5 years. Jackie has short tail feathers like a hen and never crows... just walks around "talking" loudly. I've never seen Jackie mate with the hens and every roo we've ever had has a big problem with it. Jackie is super sweet but I've noticed a trend with our roos. Once they hone in on Jackie... and they always do... they start to bully it and then crow incessantly. My question is, could it be Jackie that is inadvertently causing discord in the flock, simply by being "not normal"? I don't want to cull it, but we are really having roo problems and have culled 5 in the last year and a half for being mean, aggressive and loud. Even tried no crow collars. It's a real problem that we need to figure out. The new roo is outside crowing nonstop as we speak and has been for a couple of days now... started about the same time he started picking on Jackie. We live in the country, but even I don't like listening to that, so the neighbors, despite getting free eggs, have got to be annoyed. Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Can you share pictures? Odd acting chickens will get attacked by others, especially over zealous roosters. How old is your rooster?

 

[Ana Robin]

The new roo is pretty young. I think something like 6 months old.

 

[Ana Robin]

The pic is of Jackie, not the new roo. Also, I think that I forgot to mention Jackie has never laid an egg, that I'm aware of.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Interesting. Roosters take a while to mature and to become mentally stable. Generally I don't consider a rooster mature until about 2 years, before that they can exhibit poor behaviors and and make bad decisions.

I can see why your roosters are confused by Jackie, it looks like a masculine female just as you have described, but does look more like a hen. I would suspect it has a non functioning ovary if she hasn't laid an egg.

Is she a dominant hen? Are your roosters raised in the flock or are you getting them as older birds?

 

[Ana Robin]

Jackie is definitely not dominant. Gets the bottom rung of the roosting bar every night. The last 5 roos that we had were raised with her. This is the first outsider that we got a couple of weeks ago... beautiful Black Copper Marans. The gals love him and he was awesome until about 2 days ago... started picking on Jackie and crowing nonstop from 4:15 am until evening roost.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Non stop crowing and being hyped up make me wonder if there's a predator sniffing around your coop, is that a possibility? I would think something triggered your rooster and Jackie is taking the flack.

You could try penning her up within the coop to give her a break from him. All you can hope is he calms down. My mature roosters ignore hens that are too old to reproduce, or those that aren't feeling well. Young ones will sometimes attack them.

Another option is your rooster is suddenly calling for his last flock, or at maybe he's bragging.

This time of year rooster hormones are at their highest. I would expect things to calm down as we get into summer. I guess I'm rooting for Jackie too.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

I'm having a similar issue.

I have a Black sexlink hen who currently is 4 years,and is 2nd in the pecking order (not counting the roosters).She defiantly is hen,and on occasion is bred.My rooster Zeus for THE LONGEST time did not like her,so far neither of my dominant roos have liked her.Zeus has charmed up and Re-accepted her,several months back,but eleven still he may pack her head or run her from treats,guess it depend on how she is feeling.,but the black sex link rooster,treats her like she is a cockerel.He always chases her,nevi have I ever caught him breeding her.

Now,she is doing exactly what Jackie does,or use to,now I guess her voice jacked up and she know longer is as loud as she once was.But,she use to make this loud odd noise,almost like she was sneezing,ever since she started laying,have not noticed much.actually ever since spots became 2nd in line,she has not done it.She defiantly is a aggressive hen.When in the house laying ggs,she furiously defend sit,she has done this before,back a few years ago.She has no hesitation to flog my dog,and when the other hens see her coming,they run for the hills,and even makes a aggressive crouching position towards me,but most part she is a friendly hen.

I have not been able to figure out WHY Spots the cockerel cannot stand her,he hates her.Any suggestions,not meaning to but in,just been trying to figure this out for the longest time.

 

[adstowe]

(My opinion) Cull Jackie. She/He is causing on going problems in your flock, not producing eggs or serving the purpose of a rooster. Basically not only a "freeloader" but one that upsets the flock. I enjoy my chickens, but now and then one needs to go. If I were in your situation she/he'd be gone. You may have personal reasons for feeling differently. I'm not saying it's the decision everyone is comfortable with, but it's the logical one.

 

[Ana Robin]

Thank you very much for your insight. It's extremely helpful!