Why is my hen barking?

[elizwlsn]

I'm fairly new to chickens. Got some day old Buff Orpington's last July. The other night one of them started making a noise that sounds like a cross between a bark and a frog croaking. Yesterday she was doing it again. It's fairly often and pretty loud. Now when she does it she lifts her head and opens her beak and leaves it open a few seconds.

She's foraging and eating chicken food and other than this she seems ok. I did go ahead and give them all Ivermectin yesterday as they had never been wormed. I guess I wanted to do something and it was the only thing I could think of.

Anyone have any idea what could be the matter with her?

Thanks in advance
Elizabeth in Va.

 

[RedHead]

are you sure she's a 'she'?

 

[elizwlsn]

Hi,

Out of all the girls ( I bought pullets) she has the smallest comb and her tail feathers look like a hen. I have a couple I questioned but she wasn't one of them. I only have 6 and I get 4 - 6 eggs a day.

 

[RedHead]

I'm fairly new myself, but I have read of some instances of hens crowing, thought I'm not all too sure how it would sound

Oh and

 

[WriterofWords]

My very sweet hen Fuzzy Butt barks, she sounds almost like a Chihuahua.

 

[RedHead]

 

[Lollipop]

Two possibilities here, elizwlsn. First is the allready mentioned chance that she`s a he. Second, she may have a throat problem and has difficulty getting some things down. Keep an eye on her.

OOps, Third possible.....Not unheard of that a hen crows.

 

[elizwlsn]

Thanks for the welcome and I am worried it is a throat problem but how do determine that and if it does turn into an issue with her throat any suggestions?

I really do not beleive she's a he. I've got to learn to post photo's. And based on eggs produced can they lay more than one egg a day? Since I've had 6 egg days with 6 hens wouldn't that rule out the rooster possibility?

Thanks for taking the time to answer. These girls are become pets more than anything.

 

[KarliRae]

Any more thoughts on this anyone? My hen has just started "barking" as well - for lack of a better word. Does it while looking in one direction and I have watched and waited and scanned with binoculars and in 30 minutes have seen nothing. Do they bark in response to a feeling of danger?

 

[Beardie Girls]

My very sweet hen Fuzzy Butt barks, she sounds almost like a Chihuahua.

I came across this thread while looking for any experiences with chickens barking. One of my roosters made a sound this morning that really WAS like a chihuahua bark. Really weird and quite striking. He was standing in the coop where he had just been eating crumbles. Didn't appear distressed or anything. I wondered if it might be some kind of a sneeze or cough. I've heard one of the birds do it before, but didn't know who it was.

Also, I do have experience with a hen crowing, too. This was an Easter Egger hen that was injured so I kept her isolated indoors until she healed. She could hear her rooster crowing outside, but couldn't see him, or any other chickens. About 3 or 4 weeks into her isolation, we were tickled to hear her start crowing! It was short and rough, like a young rooster, but unmistakably an imitation of a rooster. Poor thing - I attributed it to her missing her flock. She never did it before her isolation, and once released back with her friends, I haven't heard her do it again.

Now I'm looking back to last fall when we culled a Buff Orpington that I had been sure was a hen, until it suddenly started that newbie-crowing. Now I wonder if it may have been a hen after all.