I had assumed there would be no problem. Then three days ago the crowing started. I have two light brahma hens and the dominant one has begun to crow at the rising sun. Unfortunately I live in the city and the sound affects dozens of people. Is there something, short of caponization or release, to get her to shut up? Even after feeding them this morning at 6:45a it didn't quiet her. So I put up pieces of wood to block most of the sunlight; that seemed to work. The way light enters a chicken's eyes greatly affects their behavior.

Everyone in my family thinks the hen is a rooster (but they're never quite willing to bet on it). If we see little chicks running about then we'll know for sure. But her chest feathers and other features make her out to be female. The less dominant hen is no problem. Guess I'll have to get rid of the noisy one since I sure as hell ain't moving to the country.

-- Rabbie (insomniac@deathsdoor.com), September 18, 2001

Answers

I'd be willing to bet it's a rooster;) The art of sexing day old chicks is good, but not perfect. My light brahma rooster(and others) crowed all day long. (ps. sorry to hear you're at death's door over this, and hope you find a solution fast!!lol)

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), September 18, 2001.

Light Brahma's are very slow to mature, and sometimes it takes quite a while to tell if you really have a hen or rooster. I have raised brahma's for years now, and sometimes they even fool me. I bet you ten to one that you have a rooster. You cannot tell by the feathers.

-- Barbara Vozar (vozarbi@sensible-net.com), September 18, 2001.