Alittle ruby-red biddy struts around the pen , clucking away , when suddenly it rent out a uncanny , warbly cock - a - doodle - doo . Did that chicken just crow ? Probably , and it ’s not as rare as you might reckon .
Chicken sex reversal can occur in biddy for various reasons , but in the end , it ’s link to an ovary that quits working and the yield of the one that never worked . Genetically , the hen is still distaff , but she may no longer attend or act like one .
Inside a Normal Hen
Like other females of a species , hen have two ovaries . However , only one of these ovaries works , ordinarily the left ovary , and it ’s perfectly normal for Gallus gallus .
Jacquie Jacob , fowl annexe project handler in thedepartment of animal and food skill at the University of Kentucky , explains thatfemale vertebrates develop two procreative electric organ . This symmetricalness normally remains into maturity .
“ In most avian species , however , there ’s a unsuccessful person of one ovary and its corresponding uterine tube to develop , ” Jacob say . “ The answer is normally the presence of the left ovary and oviduct reaching working development in the adult . The correct Fallopian tube is developing or rudimentary . ”
Jacob has a Ph.D. in poultry nutrition and more than 40 age of experience process in poultry extension and outreach . She antecedently worked in Mozambique , Africa , for four and a half years on a poultry task , in Florida for five year and Minnesota for seven years before settling in Kentucky , where she ’s been for more than 12 years .
She specializes in lowly and backyard flock andyouth poultry syllabus , particularly 4 - H and embryology in the classroom .
Richard Blatchford , an adjunct prof of lengthiness , small- to prominent - exfoliation poultry , in thedepartment of animate being skill at the University of California , Davis , specify in husbandry , behavior and welfare of poultry . He work with broiler , layers and backyard flocks and talk to groups about backyard flock behavior and nuisance behaviour that he aid them fix .
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“ Female birds only have one working ovary , and the other ovary does n’t create ova , but it does resign some testosterone , ” he say . “ If the functional ovary is all right , it ’s not enough testosterone to make any with child change in the hoot . She is likely a female person , she lays eggs , she goes on with her aliveness as she should . ”
Read more : Check out these fun Gallus gallus fact , including sexual practice reversal and more .
Why the Change?
Hens undergo poulet sexual urge blow , physically changing into a rooster , due to a malfunction in their working ovary . legion thing can prompt this malfunction in the chicken , leading to a spontaneous sexual urge reversal . Something must encounter to the functional ovary to cause it to become inactive before this modification go on .
“ This could be something like a disease , ” Blatchford says . “ She could have ovarian cancer , which is fairly vulgar . She could have some other tumor on her ovary . It could be stimulate by an injury .
“ Sometimes , it could just be age and her body just kind of yield out . There could be lots of reasons why the ovary becomes nonfunctioning . For whatever reason , the ovary stops working . ”
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Jacob adds that an ovary damage by tumors or disease do the hen ’s hormone levels to drop and the testosterone takes over . The increased testosterone pass on the chicken secondary male characteristic and , sometimes , the proper Fallopian tube develops into a egg - ovary .
“ Essentially what happens is they block up bring on oestrogen , ” Blatchford enounce . “ So , the testosterone from the malfunctioning ovary becomes the major sex internal secretion . Because they now predominately have testosterone circulating , they start to develop lower-ranking sexual urge characteristics of male person . ”
Both experts agree that chicken sex reversal come along to be more coarse in sometime shuttle . This makes sense as their bodies naturally produce less estrogen as they age , and they ’re more prone to disease , tumors and other issue with their functioning ovary .
Moira McGhee
“ We typically see this when the birds reach , I ’d say most usually around 5 to 6 days of age , ” Blatchford enounce . “ Their procreative organisation is set about to break down usually , and they just become prone to other types of diseases . So that ’s when you see things like ovarian genus Cancer and other type of tumors occurring on the ovary .
“ This is mostly because she ’s been using it a lot . It ’s part to break down . ”
However , Blatchford stresses that just because a bird is aging does n’t mean she ’s finally going to feel chicken sex transposition and start showing signs of becoming a rooster . Jacob check that although it ’s more common for older hen to have sex reversal , it can come about any time after a crybaby start out set .
“ It can happen in unseasoned individuals , ” Blatchford says . “ It just kind of depends on the underlie pathology that has to fall out for the change to happen . There ’s some genetic , heritability factor . ”namaki / Shutterstock
Crowing & Other Odd Behavior
Hens that undergo chicken sex reversal usually only develop some rooster traits . One of the most common traits is crowing , which could be defective in urban areas where rooster are n’t allowed . Trying to explicate that there ’s not a cock present may be difficult with all that crowing going on .
According to Jacob , biddy are physically capable of gloat without any male changes occurring . But they ordinarily do n’t desire to because of the estrogen in their bodies . She said it ’s rare for a hen to start crow for no reason . Generally , it think there ’s a trouble with their internal secretion .
When a volaille begins crow , it ’s often not a full crow . “ It ’s kind of a unearthly sound crow , ” Blatchford sound out . “ For people who ’ve had roosters , they know when they first start gloat , it kind of sounds unearthly . That ’s kind of the sound that come out because she ’s not used to doing it . Plus , the acoustic or the outspoken systems of the two sexual practice are slightly different . She just does n’t have the crow a cock has , and it ’s likely always going to sound a little off . ”
Blatchford adds that people often notice other behavior changes in hens that are change before the birds start gloat . The hen may become more zippy or start out bossing the other birds around . She might seek to get them to go plaza or follow her . Essentially , she starts doing things you ’d gestate rooster to do .
“ She may even start mounting other birds , but that does n’t always happen , ” Blatchford say . “ The biddy may become much more protective of the mess though . Sometimes they become more aggressive toward people , which is usually only a behavior roosters show .
“ But the adult difference is she likely wo n’t lay any eggs . ”
record more : Your wimp might lay these type of abnormal eggs .
Eggs No More
For hen that undergo crybaby sex reversal and start take on cock trait , their egg - laying days are usually behind them . Jacob says changed hen wo n’t ever pose eggs again . “The changed wimp is typically infertile , ” she says . “ No eggs or sperm — at least none that reach the exterior of the body . ”
Blatchford confirms that , for the most part , hens that undergo the chicken sex reversal check position egg because of the rudimentary issue with the ovary . However , mass have told him that some hen do still put egg .
“ I ’m not entirely sure what ’s going on there , ” he say . “ But for the most part , hen will stop laying when the modification come about . However , it ’s not because they ’ve changed into a rooster . It ’s because their ovary is no longer working , so they ’re not producing eggs . ”Moira McGhee
Backyard Flock Issues
Blatchford also notes that backyard chicken lot seem more prostrate to experience hens undergo sex reverse . in the first place , it ’s because the phenomenon occur more frequently in older birds . He says the condition is much more common with backyard flock because we earmark the bird to age . In compare , chickens raised as farm animals or in commercial-grade productions get slaughtered when they ’re relatively young .
“ Weight is also a adult issue , ” he says . “ Most backyard razz are overweight and that can be an issue with the reproductive system and the ovary . That ’s probably why I hear about sexreversals a peck because most backyard birds are overweight . We feed in them too much good stuff and nonsense . ”
Even foods we opine are healthy , sometimes they are n’t intelligent if the boo are eating a lot of it . Kitchen garbage , usually some sort of vegetable or fruit , are something the boo really like . But eating a mickle of scraps over clip is n’t good for them . It actually jam on the pounds .
Some chicken - keepers have never even heard of a chicken turning into a cock , much less have control this sex reversal go on . However , it ’s becoming more vulgar for backyard tidy sum owners to bring up get a line the modification occur .
While it ’s unmanageable to estimate how often this phenomenon happen , it seems to be happening a slew . “ It seems to be more rough-cut than it used to be , ” Jacob says , “ [ but we ’re ] not sure why . ”
Blatchford articulate that it ’s difficult to know whatthe part is in the universe that we see this , he does get asked about this a good deal . “ So , I assume it happens quite often , ” he says .
Both experts gibe that the reverse does n’t occur . A cock wo n’t suddenly become a hen and start laying eggs , so do n’t anticipate to hear acock - a - doodle - cluck - clucking - cluck any time soon !
More Information
Backyard chicken - custodian tend to plow their chickens as pets and are greatly concerned about their well being . Therefore , some common questions are whether they take to do anything for their biddy - turned - rooster and will it go rather than its flock better half .
Jacquie Jacob , poultry extension project director in the department of creature and food sciences at the University of Kentucky says the lifespan of a chicken could be touch because a disease or tumor may have caused the sex reversal . However , the hen broadly does n’t expect any extra treatment .
“ It really look on why the change fall out , ” says Richard Blatchford , an assistant professor of extension , small- to large - graduated table poultry , in the department of beast science at the University of California , Davis .
“ For case , she may live out her life fine . She may just be more like a cock and not lay eggs but survive out her life . However , she may have a myopic life if it ’s a genus Cancer issue or some other disease that may cause mortality . As far as particular discussion , she ’s still a wimp . She ’s still doing her thing , so you really do n’t have to change anything you ’re doing . ”
Due to the concern that a disease or Cancer the Crab caused the modification , backyard poulet - keepers may desire to take their hen to a vet to learn the underlying issue and/or bespeak caution . Unfortunately , this may not facilitate .
“ The ex-serviceman may not actually be capable to tell exactly what ’s happening either , ” Blatchford says . “ unremarkably after the birds have died , there ’s a necropsy performed . This is when you’re able to really see what ’s encounter with the organs . Then , you may kind of backtrack , and square up what disease was happening , why her ovary was n’t functional and why she was doing all these weird thing for a hen . ”
You ’ll have to rent nature take its course for the most part . Jacob suppose that once a chicken begins morphing into a cock , it ’s ordinarily too late to stop or invert what ’s happening . Plus , intervention is reasonably limited for backyard flocks . Many vets wo n’t even treat chickens .
If there ’s no sign of illness , Blatchford says the manlike behavior is n’t necessarily something to worry about .
This article originally appeared in the September / October 2022 issue ofChickensmagazine .
