Half-Hen/Half-Rooster Shows Cells Can Decide Sex

[pokerfan]

Like humans, chickens have male and female sex chromosomes. And these sex chromosomes tell a chicken which one to be.

"Sex chromosomes determine whatever gonad forms," says Clinton. So male sex chromosomes tell the gonads to be testes, and female sex chromosomes tell them to be ovaries, and then "the hormones produced by the gonad define what the individual looks like."

When he started studying the half-and-half birds, Clinton figured there would have been some weird chromosomal abnormality so the gonads would send out scrambled hormonal signals.

But that turned out to be wrong. The chickens were a mix of male and female cells. And it was the cells, not the hormones, that seemed to be calling the shots.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124529630

[willing dwarf]

1. We had one like this

She started life as Nora, one of only three hens amongst about 9 roosters (we bought them, unsexed, straight run from a local Agway -- bad way to get laying hens!) So Nora grew up, never crowed, but like all the hens, she was subject to the cocks constant demands.

She didn't lay any eggs, but she never crowed either.

Finally we had had enough of the dominance of the guys. We took them for the big chop chop to save the poor girls from complete and abject misery. About two weeks later, darn if Nora didn't start to crow! Next thing you know she was strutting round like she owned the place, ruled the roost. And she got territorial about her hens. S/he wouldn't let us in the door without attacking. We renamed her Adolf, s/he was so nasty. Finally after about three months of this, we decided Adolf had to go. Tried to eat him. I didn't even try to stew him. He was too nasty to eat!

That's the tale of the cock-hen from Skippack PA!

[pokerfan]

2. Amazing how much personality birds can have

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Birds/Archives/2010/Bird-Personality.aspx

[Deep13]

3. Male or female: pick a side! We're at war!

[pokerfan]

4. Mother Nature, Jerry, she's a mad scientist! (nt)

[BadgerKid]

5. Snicker....quite literally a "half-cocked" story.

Fascinating that life works across a spectrum of possibilities.

[damyank913]

6. Kinda lends a scary new twist to the phrase "Go F*@k yourself"