Dorothy Lamour, a White Faced Black Spanish hen of 3yrs. who is becoming a rooster
My sister and I live in SE Portland where backyard flocks are popular. We love our hens and the eggs they lay -- and the life that they bring to our yard. You cannot have a rooster in the City, only hens...
We have a problem. Our delightful, smart, funny, and charming little Dorothy Lamour stopped laying her pretty, pearl pink eggs after her first season. And then she gradually decided she would be the rooster and protect the flock. We understood that in an all female flock, this can sometimes happen -- but such a hen is still a hen. At first, Dorothy's attempts at crowing were truly comical -- garbled little cries that were not very loud. But all of a sudden, she's got her voice and her cockle-doodle-doos are disturbing the neighborhood.
And then the other day, I saw her perching on the deck and noticed for the first time that Dorothy has grown spurs on her feet... Hens don't have spurs. Roosters have spurs.
In Googling "can chickens change gender?" I learned that, yes, in rare instances, a hen can begin to show masculine traits. Roosters never turn female but hens can turn into infertile roosters. It's rare but it happens. And apparently, it has happened to our sweet Dorothy.
We can't keep her. We love her but roosters are not permitted here -- and we have a close neighbor in fragile health who is losing sleep from Dorothy's crowing. If we cannot find a home for her outside the City, we will need to put her down.
And that would break our hearts. Can you help? Does anyone reading this live in the country nearby who can give her a good home? She's a friendly goofball and loves to be petted, a real delight of a bird. So my plea is, Help Save Dorothy!