Noisy hen (or rooster???)

[kjbills]

Hello, this is a picture of one of my new hens, Sunny. We knew that she was a talkative bird, but a couple of mornings ago, when she woke up and was making her normal noises, she let out a couple of crows. At first I wasn't sure if what I was hearing was crowing as it sounded kinda hoarse. The next morning she did it again only louder and several times. Now, we are beginning to wonder, do we have a roo on our hands? She (or he??) is about 16 weeks old and looks like a hen to me, but I'm not even quite sure of her breed. The other bird we got is a blue wheaten ameracuana/ breda mix and because she's so leggy, I was afraid it was her who was just might be a roo. BTW, this morning it's been raining and there has been no sound out of Sunny (is that typical if she was a roo?) and she's usually very quiet all day and night. Just noisy for that first hour or so in the morning.

We've been told by the man we bought them from that we can return Sunny in exchange for another pullet, but we've finally gotten these chickens acclimated to their new home (have only had them for about 2 weeks) and I hate to get rid of her. Plus, getting another hen (a single) will pose all sorts of problems on its own. Oh, and I didn't mention, but we live within city limits and I don't think we would be doing well to have a roo or even a confused hen who likes to crow (and the neighbors wouldn't appreciate it either). Any thoughts?

 

[sourland]

Sunny looks like a pullet to me.

 

[Nocila]

If I can remember correctly, hens can start crowing or mounting other hens when there are no roosters around. It isn't common, but it happens from time to time...

Here's a link to a page that has a bit more information about rooster-y hens: http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyar...at-a-hen-can-turn-into-a-rooster-Is-H234.aspx

 

[AlexisWriter]

I had a couple of barred rock pullets who did that and got me in trouble with the neighbors and the HOA. It happened only in the summer, but that's when everyone's windows are open. They even woke me up until I started wearing earplugs to bed. And they were definitely girls. They were faithful and reliable layers till the end of their productive days. But they were noisy.

 

[kjbills]

Thank you for your replies. Since I posted this a few days ago, Sunny has been really quiet. I don't know if our older, bossy hen put her back in her place or what but Sunny hasn't crowed anymore. Not sure if she's just taking a reprieve or if it was a very temporary thing...something she was trying out. We'll see what happens. We were ready to return her to the man who sold her to us but now we are just going to wait and see. Just hoping that when we go to the beach in a few weeks and our neighbors are "babysitting" the hens, she doesn't decide to crow again....