Can a hen change sex?



This is rare in hens but not unknown. It may even be getting more common. "It is a hormone imbalance that occurs from time to time," says David Bland, author of Poultry for the Garden (mail order from David Bland, Greenfields Farm, Fontwell Ave, Eastergate, Chichester PO20 6RU). "When they used to have the Laying Trials at Milford Surrey in the l940's, there was a record laying Rhode Island red who the following year feathered up as a cockerel and also crowed. The year after that she changed back to a hen and continued to lay eggs."

Some hens crow and also lay eggs. "One of our customers told me about having a similar bird who both crowed and laid eggs," says David Bland, Poultry for the Garden (see his website below). "You could not really call them hermaphrodites as they are not self fertilising. A hen that lays and crows in the same season will not produce fertile eggs. There is, like most birds, animals and Homo sapiens, a very fine line between hormone sex distinction."