Noisy dominant hen

[pixiemama]

We live in town and have 6 chickens. One hen (a year old) had me thinking it was a rooster until I finally caught it in the act of egg laying. It's very very VERY noisy, every morning with the sunrise it's making the most horrid attempt at a crow. It continues these loud noises most of the day and also bothers the other chickens by squawking at them when they get into the nesting boxes and hovering around. They in turn start yelling back.
My question is, does every flock have a hen like this when a rooster isn't around?
If we send this hen off to a farm that can handle the noise will another hen step up to be first in command?

If this is just how it has to be then I can deal with it and I just need to be extra nice to the neighbors, however if you think letting this chicken go will bring silence to the yard then please do let me know!
P.S. The breed of the loud hen is speckled sussex if that matters. We also have barred rock and wyandotte.

Thanks

 

[GardeNerd]

I have a hen a little like that. She is a year and a half old leghorn hybrid. She does a similar awful attempt, does it when she can find something she can hop on like a chair or other high spot, and stretches her neck out like a rooster. It happens earlier in the day typically. When she starts doing it regularly for many days in a row, I take her down a knotch in the pecking order by bringing her in the house for a bath. She gets them occasionally anyway since she is white and the kids like to hold her the most, but not dirty. It probably is either humiliating or she thinks I am the rooster instead. I am not sure why it works, but it does. Keeping perching items out of the areas she has access to seems to help also.

My neighbor's speckled sussex was her loudest hen and I could hear her from across the street everyday. The hen acted similarly as you described as well. The neighbor fixed the problem by sending the hen and a flock mate to live with a lonely rooster. In the 4 months since the speckled sussex has been gone, no other hen has started crowing or being unusually loud there.

 

[ubermom]

We have the same problem - our one year old cochin bantam has suddenly started to crow constantly. It's really an awful noise, and she looks just like our roosters did when they crowed (before we sent them on to another home). We are in the city and I don't want to bother the neighbors (especially since we're not really suppose to have chickens). Does anyone know a way to get her to stop, or know if this is just a "phase", or do I need to find her a new home? She is my daughter's favorite hen - very sweet - and she used to be at the bottom of the heap (of 4 hens) because she had an injured foot for a while. She went broody and we got her some chicks to raise, which she's done a great job with, but she started picking on our silkie and constantly chasing her away from her chicks, and now that her chicks are about 2 months old, she's crowing. Anyone have any advice?

 

[Peppermint]

Can't wait to see what others have to say...

 

[Peppermint]

Can't wait to see what others have to say...