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My little hen turned out to be a rooster after 8 months of silence
I got a batch of chicks from the local feed store back in March. One of them, a little speckled one I named Dottie, was super quiet and gentle for months. Then last Tuesday morning at 5:45 AM she let out the loudest crow I've ever heard right by the back door. I mean, I knew it was a risk buying straight runs but I thought I'd dodged it. Has anyone else had a hen suddenly turn into a rooster way later than you'd expect?
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skyler_white7d agoMost Upvoted
Did you see that article in Backyard Poultry magazine last month about delayed sexing in older birds? They had a whole piece on how sometimes hens can actually change sex if their ovary gets damaged or develops a tumor, which sounds wild but apparently it's a real thing. Dottie might have been a late bloomer too since some roosters just take forever to start crowing, especially if they're lower in the pecking order. Either way that 5:45 AM wakeup call is rough, I've had it happen and it took me weeks to adjust my sleep schedule.
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wesleypatel6d ago
That 5:45 AM wakeup call is brutal. I was in the same boat with a bird I called Pearl, she was quiet and sweet for almost a year before one morning she just started crowing right next to the kitchen window. I used to think it was just people misreading their chickens or getting a late bloomer, but after reading that article in Backyard Poultry I totally changed my mind. The bit about ovary damage turning a hen into a rooster blew my mind, I had no idea that was even possible. My Pearl never laid a single egg and was always a bit of an oddball in the flock, so now I wonder if she was actually a hen that switched over. Did your Dottie ever lay eggs before she started crowing?
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