Lulu the Sex Reversed Hen – photo by Angela Schwendiman

I recently had yet another report of a possibly sex-reversed hen!  Here is the initial message that I received:

Hi,
I just listened to your sex reversal chicken podcast. I have a hen that is about two and a half years old. In the last two weeks she has rapidly started to reverse to a male. I am a PhD in biology. Once I noticed my little Lulu was sex reversing I wanted to learn more about how common this is. I am shocked about the lack of information on the topic. When I heard you wanted to collected some data I got very excited. I wanted to find out how many other people you had heard from.

Thanks,
Angela

 

 

 

I followed up with Angela to find out more details her little Lulu turned Lou.  Angela informed me that Lulu/Lou over this past summer has developed a larger comb and wattles (see pictures provided of Lulu above) which also seems to have become more upright like a typical rooster’s comb from its formally floppy state (typical of hen combs). Also, this hen started growing spurs and seems to have also grown taller/bigger overall (even though this hen is 3 years old and should have reached full-size already).  Lulu/Lou slowed her egg laying production and completely stopped laying by mid-September.

In addition to these physical changes, this ostensibly sex-reversed hen has undergone a transformation in it’s temperament and behavior.  Lulu/Lou is now much more aggressive towards other hens in the flock.  This hen (turned rooster) has begun crowing regularly early in the morning like her naturally born male counterparts.

Angela is very worried whether Lulu/Lou is suffering from ovarian cancer.  Her concern on this count is quite valid.  Spontaneous sex reversal in hens is always tied to the failure of the bird’s ovary, which will have been caused either to injury or illness.  Unfortunately, Lulu/Lou may have ovarian cancer, but there is no way easy way to discover this fact.  If the hen seems comfortable and healthy (although behaving strangely), I would suggest letting the bird carry on as is.

The other concern Angela has for her strange hen is whether she will be able to keep this newly crowing hen.  Her neighborhood does not permit the keeping of roosters – even one’s that are genetically female.  If Angela wants to keep Lulu/Lou in all of her crowing glory and not ruffle the neighbors’ feathers, I suggest that she start bringing this bird in at night.  Roosters can and do crow occasionally throughout the day, but they are most adamant and annoying about it in the early morning hours.  If Lulu/Lou was brought in at night (maybe kept in a dog kennel in the garage covered with a blanket to keep it dark) she could be let out later in the morning when she would crow less and fewer people would be disturbed by noise.

If you would like to learn more about spontaneous sex reversal in chickens, then please check out Urban Chicken Podcast Episode 018 where I discuss this topic at length with Dr. Jacquie Jacobs.

Also, if you believe you may have a sex reversed chicken of your own then send me the details so that it can be added to the Urban Chicken Podcast’s study of this phenomenon. I have created a resource chart with information about reported chickens that are suspected of undergoing a spontaneous sex reversal (CHART HERE).

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