Sex-Change Chicken: Gertie the Hen Becomes Bertie the Cockerel | LiveScience

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Sex-Change Chicken: Gertie the Hen Becomes Bertie the Cockerel

by Remy Melina
Date: 31 March 2011 Time: 03:25 PM ET

A British couple was surprised to witness their pet hen Gertie gradually transforming into a rooster. No, this is not an early April Fools' Day prank. Chickens really can undergo natural sex changes.

The first sign that something was afoot with Gertie was that she stopped laying eggs, her owners, Jim and Jeanette Howard of Huntingdon, England, told the local media. Next, she began strutting around their garden and crowing like a rooster. Over the next few weeks, Gertie put on weight and developed wattles beneath her chin, a feature normally exhibited only by males. She also grew dark brown plumage and a scarlet cockscomb atop her head, both male traits.

''I know it sounds ridiculous but I can assure you it's all true," Jim Howard told cambridge-news.co.uk. "People think it's a bit weird but apparently its one of those things that does happen."

.... Sex-Change Chicken: Gertie the Hen Becomes Bertie the Cockerel | LiveScience