Hen turns into a cockerel

The owners of a hen were stunned when it turned into a cockerel.

After eight months of laying eggs she suddenly sprouted a scarlet comb and started crowing at dawn.

Jo Richards, 42, who has now christened the chicken Freaky, said: "One morning out of the blue she just started crowing. I've never heard of such a thing."

Freaky now wakes up Jo every sunrise at her home in Saltford near Bristol reports the Mirror.

He also fights with other males and even tries to mate with his former laying mates.

Victoria Roberts, of the Poultry Club of Great Britain, explained that the sex change was a one in 10,000 rarity, caused by soaring testosterone levels.

Adrian Keep, secretary of the National Federation of Poultry Clubs, confirmed: "It does happen but the odds are very, very rare. I've only seen it once in 55 years."

link

Sorry guys i dony have pics

Intresting...the pwer of genetics.

Wow, that is pretty crazy.

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This is quite common San Francisco. Ever heard of Castro district?

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Courses/anphys...e/Protogyny.htm

There are two major behavioral mechanisms which have been proposed to be responsible for instigating protogynous sex-change, disinhibition and stimulation (Shapiro, 1988). Disinhibition (also called suppressionl; see Ross, 1990) implies that the presence of a male will prevent females from changing sex, and upon removal of that male, the female will switch sex. Conversely, if the female is separated from the male, she could be stimulated to change sex (also called induction; Ross, 1990). From the research conducted, it appears that the supression model only requires one environmental stimulus, while stimulation requires two environmental stimuli (Ross, 1990).

My great-grandmother had chickens. She always kept a cockrel as well because she said that the chickens would not lay as many eggs (if any) were there no males around. So by this possible old wives tale the chicken are "proven" already ultra sensitive to gender. If any chicken farmer that frequents this site can verify or deny this I would appreciate it.

I would guess if this were possible it would be a little of the link and the second stimulant might possibly be some phytotestosterones that they were feading to the hens? Pure supposition, I know, but still quite fascinating.

C'mon frogfish,
I was hoping you would add to this... Biomage? I really want to know your opinions.

I'm not sure there is much to add. Hens can change gender; it is a rare phenomena, but it is true. Other animals, such as some species of frogs, can also do this. It was a key point in the novel Jurassic Park. In the book, the scientists extracted DNA from dinosaur blood found in insects trapped in amber. However, the DNA was incomplete, so they filled in the gaps with other animals - frogs, lizards, etc. Because of this, the velociraptors they bred acquired the ability to change gender, thereby bypassing the built-in safeguards of the park intended to prevent natural breeding.

I would point out that mammals have what is known as an "XY" genetic system, in which females have two X chromosones and males have both an X and a Y. In this system, a creature which does not have a Y chromosone is female. However, birds, and by extension possibly some dinosaurs, have what is called a "ZW" system, in which males have two Z chromosones and females have both a Z and a W. In this arrangement, animals would be male, not female, by default, and would only become female if the W chromosone is present. Thus the animals in the park would probably have been males, not females.

This also makes it easy for a hen (female) to become a cockerel (male), as it contain all of the genes for being male plus the additional female genes. I should think - though I am not certain - that it would be impossible for the reverse to happen as the cockerel wouldn't have any female genes.

-Pilgrim

Trust for some homophobe to have to add their smart alec comment.

This explains the hen that used to live with us. We had a stray rooster and a hen and they were inseperable. But the Rooster was crowing and he had to go. So we bagged him and gave him away. however, when he was gone, the hen then started to crow instead. And i must say, she did a very bad job but she was definitely trying to crow at 4 am! She then had to go to my grandma's house but the funny thing is, she still tries to crow! People have said they'd never seen a crowing hen! But she hasn't turned into a rooster or anything.

Interesting story...

OT: Jurassic Park was a good movie.

You can look at hormone treatments in humans as a further example of how an organism can change from one gender to another (without surgery).

Give women doses of testosterone, and they start to grow their own facial hair, and develop masculine personality traits. The reverse is true if you give men doses of estrogen.

Makes me wonder how long and how big a dose it would take to actually turn a man into a woman this way, or vice versa.

Probably a lethal dose. While males and females have similar genetic makeup, there are certain fundamental differences between the two. It was once thought that a child's gender was largely determined by its upbringing, and that changing the physical sex of a child would allow boys to be brought up as fully-functioning girls, and vice versa. However, long-term studies have shown that this is not the case. Hormone treatments can trigger physical changes such as breast development, but do not appear capable of rewiring the brain. The sexual organs themselves cannot be changed hormonally in humans and must be altered surgically. Furthermore, while many creatures can change sex spontaneously, including birds, frogs, and fish, I am not aware of any mammals which can do so.

-Pilgrim

I tell you all a story that my Genetics teacher told me. His professor new a genetic counselor. This guy (big burly outsdoorman) married this pretty looking womken. They went to the genetic counselor because they could not get children. The genetic counselor did chromosome smears (karyotype) of both and found out the woman was actually a man. Her ovaries were actually testes, and the testosterone never kicked in. He could not bear to tell them in fear of a divorce and said they were just infertile.

Not the smartest woman if she didn't know she didn't have a menstrual cycle.

This sounds like an urban legend to me- mainly because the person telling it heard it from a friend of a friend, who's aunt was this friend's mother's sister...

No, it is real. Humans are concieved as female, and its overload of testosterone that causes them to turn male. The testosterone never took over.

Whoa... FF
I've got to call shenanigans.
Brother, I have nothing but respect for you, but this is impossible unless they never reached sexual adulthood.
It is implausable for a a male to have a female body and not show developement during puberty of some kind. Even then, she/he would have known something was up. Your genetics teacher would know this.

I think you were fed an urban legend...

These examples are more likely what is going on... if they aren't completely trying to pull one over on you.

http://anthro.palomar.edu/abnormal/abnormal_5.htm

This IS totally NOT impossible.

"On a lush tropical island in a remote area of the Caribbean something, very peculiar is happening. The young girls in one village are turning into boys. This startling sex change is occurring naturally, and a team of scientists sent to the island believes it could throw a new light on fundamental aspects of human nature and sexual identification. It has all been revealed in a fascinating documentary shown recently on BBC television, called The Fight to be Male.

The Caribbean phenomenon has been happening for the past 50 years. In that time 37 village girls have changed into boys around the age of 13. The cause has been traced back to one woman seven generations ago who passed on genetic abnormality to her descendants.

The story of the Batista family is typical of the village. Four out of the ten children in the Batista family have changed from girls into boys. The eldest, Mario, now 29 and married with children, began life as a girl named Antonia. The next daughter Milady. remains a girl. Then came Chichi, now 19, a normal male who started out as a girl called Isobel. Then there is Venecia, a normal girl. And now Virgilio, who is 12 and in the process of changing from a female to a male.


"We always brought up our girls as girls" Mr Batista says. "Because that's what we always thought they were."


IT's possible that there are people who never do complete the transformation, or even start iit during puberty.

We are not talking about an island and a bride of 10, this is post puberty. The "woman" was evidently developed enough to fool her husband.. which means completely developed. This is simply not possible with testicles, even if the are internal.

You have a very limited understanding of the complexity of biology and, I suspect, of the world. Never say never, especially when there are known conditions that would explain this.

Androgen insensitivity syndrome. They develop either partially or fully as females, due to their bodies failing to respond to testosterone. In the case of complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS), their tissues are totally insensitive to androgens, and they will develop as females, with normal female external organs. However, they will not develop a uterus or fallopian tubes, due to the production of Mullerian inhibiting factor by their testes. At puberty breasts will develop due to the production of estrogen by the testes The tissues of individuals with partial androgen insensitivity, by contrast, have partial sensitivity to testosterone, but it is reduced compared to the male normal. These individuals can develop with either male external anatomy, or female external anatomy, or some combination, depending on the degree of insensitivity.

So yes, this would completely account for the case presented.

Open up your mind, there is a lot more to this world than you will ever know.

Wow Curunir, I didn't think I required such a scolding...
Your right, I was unaware of CAIS but I do not doubt that it exists. I'm sure that a google search would prove it to me, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm simply saying that a women would (IMHO) know that something was up if they not once in their life menstruated.
They would not know they are in fact carrying testicles rather than ovaries, which I think may be what you thought I meant. I'm simply saying that with the education in today's society and most women in developed countries having regular gynecological visits... something would be detected.

If this did go undetected... God, what a shock.

^ Agreed, that seemed somwhat harsh, especially considering that Malfeas has always been an interesting and valuable contributor. It would be nice to be abreast (no pun intended) of all topics, but not practical in todays fast paced world.
Thanks for the contribution Curunir, I must admit I had never heard of this condition either, however, perhaps a little lighter on the members in future?
You must admit, one would think that telltale signs would make one aware if they were not female. Although plausible, (thanks to being enlightened of this condition) it does sound unlikely to anyone who is not aware that this condition exists.

Well I'm here to learn so I looked into this. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/8/2664

"Controversy concerning the most appropriate treatment guidelines for intersex children currently exists. This is due to a lack of long-term information regarding medical, surgical, and psychosexual outcome in affected adults. We have assessed by questionnaire and medical examination the physical and psychosexual status of 14 women with documented complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS). We have also determined participant knowledge of CAIS as well as opinion of medical and surgical treatment. As a whole, secondary sexual development of these women was satisfactory, as judged by both participants and physicians. In general, most women were satisfied with their psychosexual development and sexual function. Factors reported to contribute to dissatisfaction were sexual abuse in one case and marked obesity in another. All of the women who participated were satisfied with having been raised as females, and none desired a gender reassignment. Although not perfect, the medical, surgical, and psychosexual outcomes for women with CAIS were satisfactory; however, specific ways for improving long-term treatment of this population were identified."

Seems that these women had no problem with there sexuality and are emotionally just what they thought they were: women.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...5&dopt=Citation

"The main phenotypic characteristics of individuals with the complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS) are, female external genitalia, a short, blind ending vagina, the absence of Wolffian duct derived structures, the absence of a prostate, development of gynecomastia and the absence of pubic and axillary hair."

Amazing...

Seems I owe you an apology frogfish.