Do chickens go through sex changes when theres no a rooster around?? How weird!!!!

well I guess I would be confused too! Hope you get it sorted or maybe you like the new "alarm"? Very good read!

I too would have been surprised!

I've never heard of this. I grew up in town but I do have a lot of relatives that have farms (with chickens, cows, etc.) My MIL always had chickens when they had the farm.
I'll have to see if she's ever heard of this.
This is really interesting and also all the comments.

It may be time for that fowl to hit the stew pot. Lol

How dare she have a sex change behind your back!. My guess it is some kind of hormonal thing. Maybe she is just trying to tell you all the hens need a rooster to entertain them. LOL/Lillian

My father used to say "Whistling women and crowing hens are niether good for God nor men"

Have never heard of this. Also can someone tell me, Why do roosters crow at 3am when it won't be daylight till 7.30am. They should be asleep like the rest of us.

we should not laugh but it is funny the saying comes to mind " two for the price of one"...lol...soozie

Precocious little wretches, aren't they!!.... :}
AlmaG.

Now I think this is interesting. Learned something new. Maybe hen is going through menopause. He, He

My neighbor has chickens running all over the place and in the street. If I catch him out I will ask him what he things. It was funny because a week ago someone video taped a cat barking like a dog.

That's too funny! I have been reading all the responses to hubby and getting a good laugh. We have raised chickens for 25 years and the only time we had this happen was when one really was a rooster. I kept him separate from the hens, even named him King Tut, he was really kinda cool for a rooster. Anyway, asked hubby about this "hormone imbalance" on hens, he laughed and said "yep, it happens, we've just been lucky". Carol

How interesting to read of your experience.

I have chickens and was reading up on them yesterday, as one of my girls is laying extremly thick shelled and misshaped eggs, - although the following was not about this, and here's what I read.

Spontaneous sex change is a phenomenon whereby an old(er) hen developes charactaristics of a cock, perhaps because an infected ovary has caused hormonal changes. The hen's comb grows larger, she molts into male plumage, and she may crow or mount other hens. If the infection is successfully treated, the 'cock' will revert back to a hen at the next moult. If the infection is cured before the next molt, the 'cock' will lay eggs. The phenomenon was once considered witchcraft, the most famous case being a 'cock' named Basel who was burned at the stake in 1474 for laying eggs.

No it's not April 1st but life can be very odd at times.

I have not written this to worry or frighten you, but it may help you sort your chicken out. I'll be interested to hear the outcome.

5 comments

by 1allamericangirl 13 Jul 2011

This is really interesting to know. Now she has the choice of getting her hen checked out by a bird specialist vet & treated or continue to hear her crow & be the new guy in the hen house. How weird is this?????

by starlizard 13 Jul 2011

Ya know... I'm mighty glad I ain't a chicken. LOL!

by sewfrenzie 13 Jul 2011

She's 3 years old and has layed eggs from the start. So She's now a He how funny is that. I will have to see what hubby thinks. We need to cull out some of the ornery ones anyway.

by fannyfurkin 13 Jul 2011

That is so interesting!!!!

by stitchship 13 Jul 2011

Amazing!

You are so lucky to have chickens - even one that crows....I have a few bantam chickens that come in from my neighbours and they are so tame they eat out of my hand.

1 comment

by sewfrenzie 13 Jul 2011

Mine all line up alone the run area when they hear the lawn mower start and watch me mow. They know that grass clipping are on the menu for the day and they get so excited.
If I'm in the garden pulling weeds they watch me like a hawk as they wait for me to empty the bucket in their run area. A few will eat of of my hand, and they LOVE when the grandkids come because that means corn!!

Interesting.

intresting thanks lol carolyn

Checked in with the poultry community on line, sounds like one of my ladies has a hormone imbalance, lol!

If you actually heard a rooster, then I would strongly suspect, you have misjudged the sex of one of your little chicks early on!! LOL (Being a farmgirl, I KNOW this!) Or, you have a "suitor" from a neighboring farm!

1 comment

by sewfrenzie 13 Jul 2011

Nope, neither. I have add them all lay eggs on the same day, so unless one lays two eggs, that can't be the case. I also have sex linked chickens, which means they have a specific color for the females and the males are white. I do have one lone leghorn that stopped laying last November and hasn't layed an eggs since. I've heard from the poultry community that she may have a hormon imbalance that might correct itself or might not, lol! I suspect she's the one crowing, lol! I haven't caught her in the act yet, shes one shy bird!

You too? LOL! Only the rooster crowing in my living room this morning was my son's cell phone alarm. Let me tell you, an electronic rooster isn't as nice as the real thing. Oh how I miss living in a rural area.
Liz

Sure your hens didn't have a house quest? Or should I call him a traveling salesman. I have heard of crowing hens in fact there used to be a little saying about them, can't remember how it went though.

2 comments

by starlizard 13 Jul 2011

Did it go something like this?

Whistling girls and crowing hens never come to any good end?

I was actually going to add that to my response, but it didn't seem appropriate with what I did say. LOL!

by bumblebee 13 Jul 2011

haha too funny

Hmm, interesting!