*LOL* Great story....

It could be that it IS a roo who just matured a little late, but nearly a year old...? Hmmm.....

Without the presence of roo hackles and sickle tail feathers, I'd vote at this late stage for a really butch hen. I've had several, even in my flock WITH roosters around! They crow (kind of), mount other hens, protect other hens, call when they have a goodie, and do the 'Hey, Baby!" rooster dance. Weirdos. Right now I have two Butch Hens, one of which loves to bite my hand, the stinker.

In my experience the Butch Hens never quiet down and loose their roosterly ways, but then again aren't disruptive to the flock. They're just odd, and our roos treat them and mount them like any other hen.

Since you say your bird HAS the roo feathers coming in...I'd say time will tell! Good luck with...whatever it turns out to be! *G*

Velvet ~:>

I agree with Velvet, although I would add that standard dual purpose breeds like Buff Orps (from which Black Astrolorps were developed) do take longer to mature than the light egg layers.

There is a little verse to cover such hens:
"A whistling girl and a crowing hen
Will always come to some bad end."

My grandmother always told me not to whistle....

I had some similiar experience, except my hen was a couple of years old, and a good layer. Then one day she quit laying and her comb started swelling, at first I thought she might be sick or something, being a city girl and it my first hen. Then she started crowing one day. Very weird. She never turned back into a layer and my husband didn't like it, he said it wasn't natural. But now I know we didn't have such a weird one after all.

Okay, since we're talking about roo problems...
Is there any truth to the term "hen pecked?" We have a flock of 16 hens and one lucky roo here in VERY cold VT. They've been "cooped up" since early Nov, and they all had gotten along very well. About 10 days ago, I noticed that the roo was missing his pretty feathers along his neck. I assumed he was moulting. Then he started loosing the fancy ones along the base of his tail. I watched more closely, and saw either one or two of our golden-reds plucking his feathers! (They look very similar - I can't tell if it's one or two...) Eventually, it got unbearable to see, and he hads a couple sores where he was bare. We removed him, and now have him in a dog cage in our mud room. (Yes, the crowing is VERY loud!) He's been there for 2 days. What's happening? Will he be able to return to the flock? How do we prevent this from happening again? Help!

binghamville, it sounds like your hens are bored and have discovered the fun, new game of "Let's-all-peck-roo-boy's-hiney". If the girls are EATING the feathers they pick, they most likely need a protein boost in their diet. If so, check the protein content of your feed and offer additional things like cooked ground beef, scrambled eggs, live mealworms or crickets and other high-protein goodies. If not, it's most likely just boredom and/or overcrowding. Until he grows his feathers back a bit, keep him apart so the sores can heal--chickens LOVE to peck at blood! Also, give the chickens something else to peck at like raw corn on the cob--something that takes time to eat and can provide some entertainment for them. Some people dangle the corn cobs from string so that it's even more challenging to peck, but use caution so your birds can't get tangled in the string (cause they'll do their darndest to do just that!). You can also offer things like a nice, grassy dirt clod for them to peck and scratch around if grass is scarce for winter in your area. Live crickets also offer a fun chase and are terrific for protein.

The other possibility is a mite infestation, so watch him for excessive preening (the girls, too) and check the base of his feathers for mites.

Once he's ready to reintegrate into the flock, I'd make sure that you supervise and do it in short, 20 minute or so spans until you are sure things will be OK. If he is a large breed roo and not too docile--and the hens aren't a overly aggressive breed, they should be OK. Make sure roo boy has room to get away from any bullying though.

If you click on my 'My Page' link, there is tons of chicken info there, including how to deal with mites and my method of introducing new flock members, I call it "Meet N Greet". :) It's worked for me!

Velvet ~:>

Binghamville, just to add another idea to Velvets good suggestions, we had the same problem with my Barred Rocks plucking the feathers off my other breeds. After careful observation we narrowed it down to two bully BR girls. In addition to the above suggestions we also separated the two offenders during the daylight hours from the rest of the flock. I would hand pick them out in the morning and let them free range while keeping my other chickens in the coop/pen. This drove the offenders crazy to be "outcasts". I would return them at night to the coop and repeat for 3 days. This seemed to break the habit. I also make an effort now to let all my chickens free range more often and let them out of the coop into the outdoor pen early each morning (I had been letting them out later and later since it's been so cold here....not anymore now).

Hope things get better :)

-Sheila

hey that hen turning in to a roo has happened to me FOUR TIMES LOL course it was my inexperience not the roo's acting like hens

see you all soon

CG

My youngest butch hen laid her first egg this morning...she ran around the yard looking betrayed, cackling angrily and scaring the Hell out of my banty roo...*L*

Serves her right, the little biter!

Velvet ~:>

I ordered 25 day old chicks unaware that I could specify hens or roosters. I enden up with only what I thought were 6 hens. They are now crowing at least some are. They are white silkies, the only difference I can see is they seem to have fuller feathers on thier head. Help! I would like to get a few eggs at some point.

I was reading the other day that most female birds produce eggs from their left ovary. In case of infection, or otherwise losing function in that left ovary, their right ovary becomes dominant. For some reason, that right ovary isn't as good as the left, and produces more testosterone, which can cause the female to stop laying eggs and develop male plumage.

I've had this happen to a number of hens too.

I'm not sure that explanation makes sense, it's been a while since I've butchered a hen, but I seem to recall that the guts showed eggs being formed in both tubes.

I got myself 4 hens this past summer at 2 months old...during the later fall I was working on their fencing and one (sally) came up to me and starting cock-a doodle-dooing to me! I was shocked...since this "hen" had always been at the bottom of the totem pole and chased around by the other 3 girls...anyways Sally is now "sal" and he runs the show now.He's also a beautiful roo,splash cochin. I just love him,but that was a funny day here :)

PBS had a show about birds awhile back. I don't recall which show, and if it was just about chickens or not, but they said that the masculinizing hen was a common occurence and that it was both biological and social. In flocks where either a submissive male is present or there is no male, then one of the females will assume the role of the male. They also stated that it can be because of a biological reason like non functioning ovaries.

As far as the hen pecked rooster, the advice about the hens pecking at something different on him that is of interest to them is very likely. The blood spot pecking is not uncommon from chicks to adults. One of the guys I work with had a duck killed this way by his flock of hens. (He and his wife did not catch it and seperate the duck early enough.)

Help! I had 2 NH Reds. 4 Americanas & 2 Blk Sex Links. The NH Reds were sweet to me. I adored them. All was well until the NH Reds discovered not only were they bigger and badder (at about 6 mos. old) but could bully the rest badly. They got a hold of one of the little (docile) Americanas & if we weren't there she might've been history. I loved the Reds, but with tears I gave them away to a local farmer who had Reds. We nursed the poor little Americauna back to health, but now the rest of the flock wont let her back in! She defends herself when one challenges her, even two, but then the rest jump in & she's outnumbered! She runs to Mama, me! Can I get her back in? Or is she forever a sweet, little house chicken?