[joyofchicks]

Has anyone experienced this?  I suspect one of my Light Sussex hens has a bit much testosterone.  I only have five hens and my two Light Sussex were hatched under my broody silkie/araucana cross in August 2009 from hatching eggs I bought locally.  I couldn't tell the Light Sussex apart for months.  They reached POL at the start of this year and, as all my hens lay different coloured eggs, it was quite easy to keep track of who was laying.  I suspected only one Light Sussex was laying and so devised a way of telling who was who - this confirmed my suspicion.   Recently, the non layer has grown bigger and her wattles and comb have grown too. This morning I heard a suspicious 'crow' from the hen house.  I've heard a crowing sound before but thought I must be imagining it! I'll try to take some photos tomorrow.  Is my she really a he??  

I've attached some pictures of both my Light Sussex for comparison.  We have started calling the one in question 'Lola'!  I won't tell you how many pictures I had to take this morning to get both in one shot whilst my fingers were freezing in very chilly Aberdeenshire.

[darkbrowneggs]

Now someone more scientifically informed might pick me up on this - but as far as I understand it a pullet/hen has only one functioning ovary, and if there is any disease or infection which damages this the hen does not produce sufficient oestrogen, and the secondary male characteristics take over - so it is simply a non-laying, crowing hen.

However someone recently said she had a hen which crowed and laid eggs  -   soooo

I think I would go with the old saying "A whistling woman and a crowing hen is neither good for God nor men"  I have been known to whistle however.

All the best
Sue
Dark Brown Eggs

[HappyHippy]

I have heard tales of hens turning into cockerels, especially if there's no cockerel there or he has died suddenly. So it's entirely possible. On another note ALL my light sussex 'hens' turned out to be cockerels - but that's what I get for buying at the market  Lesson learned ! 

[Cobra]

I would go along with Sue (Darkbrowneggs) pretty well spot on.  I remember watching a programme on this a while back, quite interesting.

A hen can show all symptoms of a cockerel including full plumage, spurs, wattles. They can behave as a cockerel, presenting food etc to the hens and lowering their wings slightly, although they say that this can appear amateurish.

Some can lay eggs, but this is very much dependant on the amount of change or testosterone, the more they look like a cockerel the less unlikely they will be to lay. They cannot reproduce as a cockerel i.e. fertilise a hen.

Show us a pic if you can, love to see your heshe.  Wonder how they taste  

[meebh]

funnily enough I have a light sussex with exactly the same size comb as yours and we have had similar thoughts although ours must be laying according to egg numbers.  Will have to try and take some pics of 'Casper' as our one is called....she has recently grown this oversize combs and her 2 sisters have normal size combs.

 

[nessjw]

Hi, l have a trio of light sussex at 24 weeks old now..the cockerel has long green,black,white tail feathersnow..all 3 were meant to be hens..its easy to tell the difference now .. l dont mind as needed a cockerel, so hen/now a henry..your two look like hens to me..l'm very new to this..just putting my 2 pence worth in..

[Hardfeather]

A hen can show all symptoms of a cockerel including full plumage, spurs, wattles. They can behave as a cockerel, presenting food etc to the hens and lowering their wings slightly, although they say that this can appear amateurish.

That could be a hen-feathered cock, or 'Hennie' fowl. These occur in quite a few breeds, including some strains of gamefowl, but particularly Sebrights.

Hennies also seem sometimes to moult from hen-feathered to normal cock-feathered, and back again at the next moult, so this may be the basis for the belief that hens can change into cocks. Hennie cocks look very like hens, have rounded neck hackle feathers, lack the sickles and hangers in the tail, but act and reproduce like the cocks they are.

Joyofchicks...that looks like a young cockerel and a pullet to me.

[egbert]

When I went to collect my rescue birds the rescue ladies from BHWT said they had a hermaphrodite hen in the bunch!
 

[Cobra]

Thanks for the pictures and for braving the weather 

Well I would have said the same pullet and cockerel from here: Thing is, if it is a hen as a cockerel, they can be in distingusable  Guess you'll have to wait for the egg test 
I hope that someone more knowlagable will know a way of telling how to recognise one from tuther i.e cock bird from hen in drag 

[Fleecewife]

Perhaps you can try hatching some eggs - if they hatch he's a he.

[Sylvia]

I remember having a conversation with a vet. many years ago when one of my "female" cats at about a year old grew testicles and beacame "male"
Apparently this is not unheard of in animals and humans, but always female to male and not the other way round.
I've never heard or seen of this since, though I often accuse my old man of being a bit of an old woman!

[tazbabe]

the more i read here, the more i am convinced that one of my hens is not right either.

she is small made, but has larger wattles than the other hens.
the others are horrid to her, chase her all the time, and the cockerel positively hates her, won't let her feed or roost without a squabble every day.
she does have one friend, and they spend everyday together, always come home last and can only feed once the others have gone to bed.

now i wonder.........

[Sharondp]

I have a light sussex almost identical to Lola (called tiddler) and she lays eggs - she was the sole survivor of a fox attack. She definitely lays as I've recently moved her into a pen with 2 other POL light sussex who haven't started laying yet, but Tiddler will lay lovely eggs almost every day! I've often been asked if she's a cockerel, but definitely not!

[OhLaLa]

Rare, but totally possible.

Many years back one of my hens started cock-a-doodle-dooing. I only had hens at the time. The conclusion we came to at the time was she took up the male role. All remained happy in the flock.

.....The neighbours decided to put their twopennth in about how I'd 'gone and bought a cockerel' and looked at me in total disbelief when I told them that actually I hadn't (that stopped their moaning mid sentence!).   

[madchickenlady]

I remember my Grandfather telling me a similar tale of a goose of his which turned into a gander, they decided to eat it - but once cooked my grandfather didn't have the heart to carve it! No idea what they did with it but I would hazard a guess that the cats were well fed that day! ho hum!