so here in my city we are not allowed to owns roosters. I'm assuming it's because they make alot of noise. So I have 6 hens all at which are about to be egg laying age. Well, recently 1 of my hens started crowing, or whatever you call it, like at 6am! She even does it during the day. I gate so paranoid that it's bothering my neighbors. I didn't know hens made those kind of noises! It is ONLY the dominate one that does it. But my question is, will she always make these kind of noises? I'd be sad to have to get rid of her since I know what her fate would be. She's mine and the girls favorite chicken :(
vjbakke
04-03-2012, 07:07 AM
They do sometimes do this, but normally when they are older and their hormones have changed. Sure it's not a roo? Do you have a pic? Maybe her hormones are screwy? Our girls are generally pretty quiet. Have any of the started their egg song? It's loud when they do it. Look on you tube for videos of chicken egg song.
vjbakke
04-03-2012, 07:10 AM
here's a good one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx_Hdpg1M8g
KdEMomma
04-03-2012, 08:50 AM
I've personnally never had chickens but a friend of mine has always kept some around for eggs. She had one hen a couple years ago go really funny on her and start to switch its gender because there were no roosters for the hens. Just an possibility. :headscratch:
3lilbubs
04-03-2012, 10:38 AM
How funny! I love all the chatter they make, I hope my neighbors do too. :giggle2:
Geckmumto3
04-03-2012, 03:12 PM
I was going to ask if you are positive she's not a rooster. Sometimes it takes some time to tell, and she might very well be a Roo.
lissa~K
04-03-2012, 04:47 PM
I was going to ask if you are positive she's not a rooster. Sometimes it takes some time to tell, and she might very well be a Roo.
This. If they are young enough that they haven't started laying yet, I really think you might have a roo. Sometimes crowing is the first clue.
mom2luke&jake
04-03-2012, 08:03 PM
This. If they are young enough that they haven't started laying yet, I really think you might have a roo. Sometimes crowing is the first clue.
Yep! :giggle2: My first round of chicks was prodominatly roosters and we didnt know till they all started crowing.
VeganCupcake
04-03-2012, 08:22 PM
It sounds to me like your "dominant hen" might be a roo, too. :giggle: Sexing is only about 90% accurate, so even if you think you're buying only pullets, you can end up with a rooster.
Especially since you say they are getting to laying age but haven't laid eggs yet . . . well, it's just awfully suspicious! Does s/he look a bit different in the tail feathers than the others?
SillyEllie
04-04-2012, 05:07 AM
Does s/he look a bit different in the tail feathers than the others?
her feathers in the back are a little fuller BUT she is an easter egger and the other easter egger we have is the same way. But what if the fact she does NOT have a spike at the back of her leg? don't roos get that because she def does NOT have that. She hasn't started laying eggs yet but she should very very soon. I'm like 95% sure she is not a roo because all the signs of one they have online (except the crowing) says she isn't, like her physical features. ::sigh:: I really hope she isn't one anyways. I guess we will find out sooner or later!
SillyEllie
04-04-2012, 05:23 AM
this is her. I don't know if you can tell anything from the picture but she is pretty much full grown. I'm sure she'll get bigger in a month or 2 but she's already pretty big. She's bigger then my other chickens but I don't know if that's because she's a different breed (my other easter egger is younger) or because she's the dominate one
It's hard to tell from that pic, could you get one of her standing on the ground. The main way to tell is if they have saddle feathers and long hackle feathers.
SillyEllie
04-04-2012, 06:30 AM
I'll take a better pic today :)
SillyEllie
04-04-2012, 06:39 AM
here she is
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr137/basketcasepets/SAM_3654.jpg
I'm actually uploading a video of her on youtube and will post that when it's finished
here is the video of her crowing....what does everyone think? she doesn't have a spur mind you
vjbakke
04-04-2012, 09:36 AM
Those longer feathers on her back that kind of hang off to the sides do look like saddle feathers to me. However her head looks more like a hen. Is her comb larger than the others? Some roosters never get spurs and some hens can have spurs! From the video I am leaning to the side of that she is a he.
luvallmykids
04-04-2012, 04:02 PM
From the video she sounds like a he, BUT I did have a Easter egger start crowing, but she was 3yrs old, & didn't lay anymore. So I do know that hens do crow, but I think you might have a he. Just wait a few weeks and see if she starts to lay since she is 20wks old, that is when my EE started laying.
KB'sMama1031
04-04-2012, 04:12 PM
that is pretty weird!
3lilbubs
04-04-2012, 04:26 PM
uh oh. I'm not experienced but at first look I thought it's a "he". Those tail feathers are very pronounced. Oh I hope for your sake we're all wrong!
altuttle
04-04-2012, 04:41 PM
I dont know anything about chickens yet but after watching that video I did a little search and found a couple places that said that a female can start to crow. http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-help/Can-hens-REALLY-crow-H23.aspx
SillyEllie
04-04-2012, 06:05 PM
I called the farm we got "her" from and we brought her in. The second she looked at him she said "yeah, that's a male" :( He was our favorite rooster so i'm pretty bummed. She did take him back and gave us 2 hens for free so that was really nice of her. If we were allowed to have roosters and we didn't live so close to neighbors we would keep him but that's not fair to have my neighbors wake up to him every morning
Geckmumto3
04-04-2012, 06:25 PM
I called the farm we got "her" from and we brought her in. The second she looked at him she said "yeah, that's a male" :( He was our favorite rooster so i'm pretty bummed. She did take him back and gave us 2 hens for free so that was really nice of her. If we were allowed to have roosters and we didn't live so close to neighbors we would keep him but that's not fair to have my neighbors wake up to him every morning
I'm sorry, mama, that you had to give him up. I just watched the video before I saw this reply and thought, "Yeah... that's a rooster," and I am pretty new-ish to chickens. How did your two new hens settle in?
3lilbubs
04-04-2012, 06:35 PM
Oh I'm so sorry. :( I'll be sad if any of mine turn out to be boys too. That was really sweet of her to give you two hens. I almost hate to ask, what will become of him? He's so pretty!
SillyEllie
04-04-2012, 09:05 PM
my 2 new hens were slightly younger so some of the bigger hens were kinda showing them whose boss but they seemed to be ok. I have no idea what his fate will be. She's not a chicken breeder. I believe she gets chicks and then sells them but mainly she is a horse farmer but she had roosters in different stalls. He's a very pretty rooster so hopefully someone will want him to breed with but I'm sure 1 day he'll end up on someones dinner plate. I hate to think that but he is a chicken after all but even with that as a possibility we couldn't keep him
3lilbubs
04-04-2012, 10:54 PM
:( So sorry u couldn't keep him. What breed of hens did she give you, can you tell yet?
SillyEllie
04-05-2012, 12:06 AM
1 was a buff orphington (which I've had before and liked) and the other I completely forgot what she said it was! They are cream colored and she said thy will get dark chocolate chip spots on it's wings? The other 5 we already have are a black lace & a golden lace wyndotte, a rhode island red, a plymouth rock and an easter egger
3lilbubs
04-05-2012, 12:11 AM
oh they sound lovely! This thread needs pics. :giggle: My bff went on and on today about her lace wyndottes. I only have four chicks and I already want more. :blush:
SillyEllie
04-05-2012, 12:21 AM
this was our rooster when he was a baby
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr137/basketcasepets/SAM_2497.jpg
this is the plymouth rock
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr137/basketcasepets/SAM_3057.jpg
rhode island red
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr137/basketcasepets/SAM_2842.jpg
black lace wyndotte
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr137/basketcasepets/SAM_2840.jpg
the rhode island red & gold lace wyndotte
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr137/basketcasepets/SAM_3072.jpg
I don't have that many good pics. They never stay still long enough lol
SillyEllie
04-05-2012, 12:23 AM
and we started out saying we only wanted 2 or 3 chickens and we have 7 now :blush: technically we are only allowed to have 4 where we live but oops, oh well :)
3lilbubs
04-05-2012, 12:27 AM
Beautiful babies!! :wub: I love how diverse your flock is!
SillyEllie
04-05-2012, 12:32 AM
thank you :) we made sure to get different breeds and colors so we had a mix. All are suppose to be good layers and lay brown eggs except the easter egger who will lay blue/green eggs, hopefully. I'd REALLY like a hen that lays dark brown eggs but I'm hoarding chickens and I need to STOP IT!
SillyEllie
04-05-2012, 12:34 AM
and typo, black* lace is actually silver lace, my bad
altuttle
04-05-2012, 02:24 AM
Your chickens are so cute. I hope to get some once we get back and buy a house.
FernHollow
04-05-2012, 10:01 AM
That is definitely a roo mama :hugs: The saddle feathers are a dead giveaway. He is a very pretty boy though and I'm glad you got some replacement hens. With our first batch of chickens a few years ago they were supposed to all be pullets and we got 2 roos. The kids were really disappointed!
vjbakke
04-05-2012, 10:17 AM
Thats awesome that your were able to return them and get 2 more hens. That is a very nice advantage to getting them locally. we have to mail order ours.
cdwelton
04-06-2012, 03:48 PM
That really sucks you had to get ride of it. We had the same thing happen to us. We had 8 chickens and of course our fav was a boy and he crowed late. I really don't believe that hens will ever change sexes, I think that some just crow late and mature late. Seems vary unnatural to change like that. We ended up selling ours to someone for meat :( But he feed a family.
