Could a chicken change sex?

We are very proud of our chickens who provide endless hours of amusement and indeed affection.

One of them started squawking a bit and in chats with other chicken lovers, were told they could change sex !

Now we had never heard of this, so investigation was needed !

Apparently, a hen can sometimes develop male characteristics if her only functioning ovary becomes damaged or stops working.

In chickens only the left ovary normally functions in egg production and the right gonad remains largely undeveloped.

If the left ovary is damaged for example by age-related degeneration, the dormant right gonad can begin producing male hormones

Hence a hen may:

Grow a larger comb and wattles

Develop long saddle and hackle feathers like a rooster

Crow or attempt to crow

And people often call these birds “sex-reversed hens”, but they remain genetically female (ZW), do not become a true cockerel, do not produce sperm and cannot fertilise eggs

So, to dispel a myth, being without a cockerel does not cause hens to change sex !