I love weekends.  Winter weekends especially, with the sun not coming up until 6:45.  On the weekends during this time of year, when the kids are between sports, our family sometimes actually gets to sleep in as late a 7 or 8 am.  Well, that is until recently…

I know it sounds crazy, but around 5:30 AM, I have been woken up to crowing!  About 8 or 9 times, over the last month, I have been hearing this awful “gaw—gawk–gawk–gawk—gaaaawkkkkkk–,” in the predawn hours.  Really, how could that be? We only keep hens, and I am sure we have all girls in the coop because a couple of times a week, we get 5 different shades and shapes of eggs from 5 different chickens.  I can even tell you who lays each egg by just glancing at them.

As soon as I am awoken by the distinctive sound, I bolt out of bed, and run out the back door (usually at 5:30ish) in only my pjs and socks.  The first couple of times it was in hopes of catching the culprit in the act.  Sadly, I quickly discovered it to be my sweet little hen, Penguin, a 1 1/2-year-old black bantam Cochin.  Each time I catch her in the act, there she is all proud of herself, neck stretched out, on her tippy toes on the roost bellowing out a pitiful crowing sort of sound, unlike anything a hen does at another time of day.  Off to the isolation pen in the garage she goes, and hopefully I don’t hear later about how “my chickens” disturbed anyone, especially my husband.

I have read it is very rare, but not unheard of, that in the absence of a rooster, a hen may take on the responsibilities of flock protector, including crowing.  Great.  Just my luck.  I must have won the chicken lottery, not once, but twice, because this is the second crowing hen I have had in 3 years.

The crow is not an extremely loud or even a stylized traditional “cock a doodle doo”…but it sure isn’t an egg song.  We have had crowing cockerels for brief periods when our broodies raise chicks, so I have learned to recognize the sound of a cockerel with a novice crow that just needs a bit more polishing.  To make matters worse, Penguin’s crow is just loud enough to wake me with the windows closed and the coop 25 feet from my bedroom.  That means it is probably loud enough to wake the neighbors, come summer when everyone has their windows open.

I really wish it could be a different hen.  Penguin is very calm, friendly, and easy to handle, plus she is a great mama hen when she has chicks.  I am hoping that this is just a phase.  Recently, I have seen the Easter Egger challenging her when they are all out in the yard.  Hopefully the EE will move to the top of the pecking order and Penguin will give up the crowing.

My neighbor, K, who really likes Penguin, has mentioned that if Penguin doesn’t stop in the next few weeks, she could take her.  K keeps red stars, which are much larger than a bantam Cochin.  I hope it doesn’t come to it, but Penguin may have to move across the street in order to move to the bottom of a pecking order and to get her to give up crowing.  I will update if anything changes, but for now, Penguin is staying at Hanbury House.  However, she will get to sleep in garage on weekend nights, just in case.

Update: She has not stopped crowing. Here is the post about the next step