My hens now a rooster

[Chicken poppy]

Okay. So, i know this isn’t that unusual. I have seen it before, but this is different than past hen “roosters” for me and i have some questions.

So i have heard its a dominance thing, which makes sense. My other hen wing dances, and gets puffed up like she will mate to make the other hens submit. Shes top of the pecking order, and she does it when she gets angry or overly excited. So that totally makes sense.

However this young lady is very puzzling to me. It appears to not be a dominance thing at all as she is the lowest on the pecking order (or second lowest) And has never tried to step up to the other hens so shes scared of them. And she literally acts in every way, a rooster. If i didn’t see her lay eggs with my own eyes i wouldn’t believe it because every detail is just identical to a rooster. It’s almost like she picked up on them from my roosters and is mimicking them.

My roosters do a thing where they wing dance your hand and then nip your hand, they also do it to the hens. She has picked up on this behavior quickly and does it. When i pick her up, she mates me (how a rooster would.) grabbing my hand and then mating.
She does it to the other hens, and she tries to crow. What could be the cause of this, and should i just let this behavior be? Thanks!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Could be something wrong with her hormones. I had a hen that would crow. The rest may still be the hen trying to dominate you, especially if she's got more male hormones than female because of an imbalance. She'll never be a technical rooster, but may act like one.

 

[Debbie292d]

I don't think there's a particular "cause" of it, as it generally is a fluke to those of us who have or have had a strange hen. I currently have one silky hen who is at the bottom of the pecking order too, and just saw yesterday her take off after one of the 4-month-old silkies free-ranging nearby and mount it, pulling on the head feathers, just like a mean rooster. I ran over there, broke it up, and had to calm down as I was ready to drop-kick her for that. She is about 4 years old and has never ever done such a thing before and was always the quiet meek one. Beats me what goes on with these chickens sometimes!

 

[Chicken poppy]

Could be something wrong with her hormones. I had a hen that would crow. The rest may still be the hen trying to dominate you, especially if she's got more male hormones than female because of an imbalance. She'll never be a technical rooster, but may act like one.

Interesting ! Doesn’t cause problems right? (As in being painful or something needing to be fixed?) I know she isn’t an actual rooster, i thought it made for a fitting title though. She seems to be very convinced.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Interesting ! Doesn’t cause problems right? (As in being painful or something needing to be fixed?) I know she isn’t an actual rooster, i thought it made for a fitting title though. She seems to be very convinced.

Mine did fine for many years. She would lay eggs, and only crowed at certain times of the year. Scared the heck out of me every time she started it back up. Unfortunately a hawk got her this year, so no more crowing hen for now. Enjoy her uniqueness.

There are instances I have read where some hens hormones are so off balance that they actually start to grow in male feathers. Most female animals also have some testosterone that are produced by the ovaries, and the adrenal glands, so if the female hormones get off balance, more male traits can develop.

It's not deadly in of itself, but it can indicate that there might be cysts on the ovary, or other similar conditions that is producing the imbalance. The endocrine system is a complicated things, and things go wrong at times.

Hens only have one functioning ovary, so if something gets off there isn't the other one to compensate for it.

 

[theoldchick]

Spontaneous sex reversal does happen to hens who have injured/diseased left ovary. The right ovary then enlarges and produces male hormones that causes the hen to behave like rooster.

https://poultry.extension.org/artic...n-chickens-kept-in-small-and-backyard-flocks/

 

[Chicken poppy]

Mine did fine for many years. She would lay eggs, and only crowed at certain times of the year. Scared the heck out of me every time she started it back up. Unfortunately a hawk got her this year, so no more crowing hen for now. Enjoy her uniqueness.

There are instances I have read where some hens hormones are so off balance that they actually start to grow in male feathers. Most female animals also have some testosterone that are produced by the ovaries, and the adrenal glands, so if the female hormones get off balance, more male traits can develop.

It's not deadly in of itself, but it can indicate that there might be cysts on the ovary, or other similar conditions that is producing the imbalance. The endocrine system is a complicated things, and things go wrong at times.

Hens only have one functioning ovary, so if something gets off there isn't the other one to compensate for it.

Wow. I did not know they could grow male feathers.. That’s very fascinating.


Sorry about your hen, she sounded lovely.

Thank you! I hope all is well with her and fingers crossed nothing is wrong.