Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[pistachio]

My sister has a few chickens and had a lovely white cockerel that sadly died of old age a couple of weeks ago. The other day they heard a bantam cockerel style crowing coming from the garden but every time they looked out of the window they couldn't see a cockerel (they thought that a nearby cockerel may have jumped into the garden - which would be odd). In the end they happened to look out just as a chicken threw her head back and crowed like a Bantam Cockerel.

 

Have you guys seen this? Is she trying to find a replacement cockerel by crowing in order to attract a cockerel to a fight and then join the group? Is she trying to be a cockerel to lead the group? Is she mad?

 

what are they like?

[Egluntyne]

Is she absolutely certain of the sex of this chicken?

[pistachio]

well - that did cross my mind - but the chicken has never done this before and mores the points she lays!! Maybe I could start a thread "LAYING COCKEREL" That's even wierder

[Egluntyne]

Well maybe she has decided that she is boss chicken.

 

Have the neighbours complained?

[ChickNic]

Hi Pistachio,

 

My girls do this from time to time. It's not quite a cockadoodledoo, but it certainly aint a cluck either. It's as if they suddenly just want to wake the whole neighbourhood. It started with just one, but they can both be as bad as eachother.

 

I think mine do it when they are a bit bored, as if I let them out the run/feed them it seems to stop. Although I wouldn't recommend this as a remedy as I swear they linked crowing at their top of their lungs = a reward and it took me quite a while to wean them off!

 

Touch wood, mine haven't done it for a while - or at least not in the morning. God knows what they do when I'm at work!

 

Nicky.

[The Dogmother]

It's been known for a hen to crow, especially after the flock has lost a cockerel - it's 'replacing' the husband without the gender reassignment bit

[pistachio]

Yeah - she was freeranging at the time so I think the replacement theory is most likely - thanks guys - this group is like a fount of knowledge. I'm totally fascinated by chickens

[SAB]

There is also the possibility that she has had a sex-change. It does happen - rarely, but often enough - thought to occur if one ovary not functioning properly, leading to increase in testosterone.

 

I know as we had this occur with Myrtle our glorious white sussex aracuana cross. Got from a guy who is very knowledgeable about chickens and saw the brood it came from - the males and females were very different from each other at the point I got Myrtle, who was most definately female and very maternal to the smaller birds in our flock. Was very slow to develop any sort of comb or wattles and then seemed to go a bit overboard when she did and they looked much more cockerally. She started to walk like a cockeral too and tried to mate with anything that moved - oh, and developed a low cockadoodledoo, sort of like if Barry White was a chicken!

 

Anyway, she was noisy almost all the time and we were very worried that our tolerant neighbours would become less so. The chap we got her from was well shocked when he saw her and diagnosed a sex-change had occurred. He has managed to rehome her in a lovely rural location with lots of lovely chickens and children to interact with, and no worry re neighbours. We were so sad to see her/him go but she/he was so loud - we are really glad that Myrtle (aka Manfred) has found a safe, happy home.

 

I hope that yours has not changed totally - apparently they can just be a bit confused for a bit, but decide to stay female - but just to warn that sex-changing can happen (I think the figure is 1 in 10,000 chickens) and tends to be from female to male.

 

Good luck!

[Groovychook]

There is also the possibility that she has had a sex-change. It does happen - rarely, but often enough - thought to occur if one ovary not functioning properly, leading to increase in testosterone.

 

Oh, I'm so glad you've posted that! I read that this was possible ages ago and whenever I've mentioned it to anyone else I've got the distinct impression that they think I've completely lost the plot!!

[pistachio]

I'm scared to say, "really?" in case you all kill yourself laughing at me Did Myrtle/manfred lay eggs before she turned into a semi-cockerel? I don't think she looks particularly cockerel like - I'll ask (that is if I'm not having my leg pulled majorly)

[SAB]

Difficult to tell if our he/she laid before turning as we can rarely catch who is laying in our flock. She did have lady-like vent though and I totally trust opinion of the guy we got her from as he has experience of 100s of chickens and cockerals of all sorts of breeds. She remained ladylike in looks for quite some time and looks were still debatable when first started crowing, but by the end there was no question about it - we were all stunned.

 

Definately not pulling your leg here - there have been other posts here and on other forums about this sort of thing. She was my 12 year old daughters bird and, sad as she was to see her go, it has given her a unique contribution to biology classes at school!

 

Remember - there are other creatures who are known to change sex - certain types of amphibians, for example, and even amongst humans there is a percentage of people who are neither XX or XY, but a variation.

 

I do hope yours stays just a noisy girl.

[~lizzy~]

nice to read about this, i had my chickens in May and after a few weeks i heard what sounded like a distinct crow never really sussed out who was doing it. i didnt post a question as i thought maybe her voice is breaking in!

 

i did read about the sex change thing but all three were laying and still are. I only hear it every now and again.

 

but.....what is anoying is that my chickens are just naughty and daft. When it was really cold the other weekend i went out about 10pm to close their door and they hear me coming and come out to play! im standing there like a lemon waiting for them to go back in .......................no chance they are out playing & feeding i had to give up in the end as it was so cold and i thought stuff you stay out. and this is at 10.30 at night

they did it again on Sat night

 

[Janty]

My ex-batt (Tinsel, aka He/she) laid eggs when we first got her but made sort of strange muffled crowing noises. She did look a bit manly and this was commented upon when we rescued her. In the past year she has developed a HUGE comb, spurs, more of a muffled crow (although not enough to worry the neighbours yet - thankfully) and the distinct look of a cockerel from the front. Her tail still looks female...very strange.

[furryelephant]

My Magpie is a noisy begger... she makes a loud half sqwawk, half crow noise and has done pretty much since she arrived in the garden (funny how she was as quiet as a mouse when we picked her up from the breeders!) She now makes a racket every morning and whenever she thinks you should be paying her more attention.. or hears a car pull up on the drive.. or sees you through the window.. etc etc etc! She's definately a lady though.. lays lots of eggs and is quite small and dainty!

 

Luckily my best friend lives next door and just has a laugh at my Diva Chicken... but I do worry that if any other neighbours decide they've had enough we may have to find her a country residence somewhere with no neighbours

 

Funny think is our Gingernut is a peaceful little lady and hardly makes a "bok".. I think we may have tempted fate when we named our Magpie... we called her "Kylie" after Ms Minogue because of her showgirl posh feathers (and then she started singing!!!) Chickens eh? They never stop surprising you.. who thought I'd be wandering round the garden at 6.30 in the morning trying to "hush" a chicken by blackmailing her with porridge and mealworms?!?!

[tom123]

There was an article about this in Country Smallholder Christmas 2008...Ill try and find it!

 

Tom

[KAZAROO]

It's been known for a hen to crow, especially after the flock has lost a cockerel - it's 'replacing' the husband without the gender reassignment bit

 

Maybe you need to get her a cod-piece

[KAZAROO]

I'm scared to say, "really?" in case you all kill yourself laughing at me Did Myrtle/manfred lay eggs before she turned into a semi-cockerel? I don't think she looks particularly cockerel like - I'll ask (that is if I'm not having my leg pulled majorly)

 

I am a little concerned now about "our Sue" She hasn't laid an egg since Mel died and I put it down to moulting- OH just laughed hysterically when I told him about this thread I will have to keep an ear out She is ever so noisy in a cockerally kinda way!!!!!

[pistachio]

well - my next post will be for a chicken gender reassignment therapist