1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff. 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: Lauren bog obamb Here. Miss Lucille was a sweet pullet, 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: which is a term for a young hen who had 4 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: found a cozy home in a backyard chicken coop in 5 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,800 Speaker 1: Powder Springs, Georgia. Initially, things appeared to be status quo 6 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: with the young exchequer leg horn cross. After observing her 7 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,640 Speaker 1: for a time, however, her owner, who wished to remain anonymous, 8 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: noticed Miss Lucille was growing a comb. Although both sexes 9 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: of the breed can have them. Her owner's instincts told 10 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,840 Speaker 1: her that perhaps something wasn't quite standard, so she sought 11 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: the help of a local farmer. The owner recalls the 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: farmer did all the checks to confirm Miss Lucille was 13 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 1: a miss. She had no saddle feathers, which are pointy 14 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: feathers at the base of the tail, no aggression, didn't 15 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: jump or react in the presence of other hens or roosters, 16 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: and when she was laid back in the farmer's hand, 17 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: she stuck her legs straight out and just laid there. 18 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: All our old timers tricks to identifying roosters, since there's 19 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: no definitive way to tell until they mount another chicken 20 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: or crow aside from lab testing, so Miss Lucille had 21 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,199 Speaker 1: failed the rooster test. However, later on the owner arrived 22 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: home to a mess of feathers in the backyard, an 23 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,960 Speaker 1: unusual event because hens don't usually molt until around eighteen 24 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: months of age. The owner said she began acting more temperamental, 25 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: but I attributed that to her molting, as it can 26 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: be quite uncomfortable for chickens. I was worried about her health. 27 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: Although strange things were certainly a foot in Miss Lucille's world, 28 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,960 Speaker 1: none of them were health threatening. When her feathers grew back, 29 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,119 Speaker 1: they were saddle feathers like those found on roosters. Her 30 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: hackles and tail feathers had also undergone some major changes. 31 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: Her owner said she went from being your typical hen 32 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: to a rooster with beautiful long tail feathers and pointy hackles. 33 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: Her gait changed, and she was definitely at the top 34 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: of the pecking order. Further consultation advised a weight and 35 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: see approach. One farmer told the owner just because she 36 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: now looked like a rooster didn't mean she was one. 37 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: I needed to wait until she crowed or mounted one 38 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: of the hens. Miss Lucille's comb continued growing, but she 39 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: also became more mellow and friendly. Her owner said for 40 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: every indicator that she might still be as she, there 41 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: was another for her being a he. Finally, irrefutable proof 42 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: came at around five months of age. The rooster literally crowed. 43 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: Her owner said. Every day the crow grew louder and stronger. 44 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: It was official that Miss Lucille was now Mr Lucille, 45 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: and to his credit, he assumed the role wonderfully. If 46 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: the girls were low on water, he'd crow, would let 47 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:37,639 Speaker 1: me know to get it on. He'd lead the charge 48 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: up to roost at night. He'd wake us up with 49 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: his song early each morning. So how does a hen 50 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: become a rooster? Spontaneous sex reversal, such as in the 51 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: case of Mr Lucille, is extremely rare. A study out 52 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: of Bangladesh found that only twenty eight of three thousand 53 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: hens monitored underwent reversal. The jury is still out on 54 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: exactly why this phenomenon occurs, but there are some prevailing theories. 55 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: According to Drew Benson, Assistant professor of poultry science at 56 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: the University of Georgia. Benson said via email, current evidence 57 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: shows that sexual differentiation in birds is a mix of 58 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: direct genetic and hormonal mechanisms. The right ovary and overduct 59 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,679 Speaker 1: regress during embryonic development, leaving the hand with only one 60 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: functional ovary, the left one. Should the left ovary be 61 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 1: removed or become dysfunctional due to disease, the regressed right 62 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: ovary may form an ovotestis, he explained, but let's break 63 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: that down a little. Most instances of spontaneous sex reversal 64 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: in birds, such as Mr. Lucile's, are believed to be 65 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: connected to alterations in sex steroid hormone action, such as estrogen. 66 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: The hypothesis is that estrogen activity suppresses development of the 67 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: right gonad, but when the ovary fails to secrete estrogen, 68 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: the tissue in the undeveloped right gonad is then changed 69 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: to an ovotestis, which is a testis like structure that 70 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: will again to secrete androgens and give the female bird 71 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: more physical characteristics usually seen in males. Benson noted that 72 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: the lack of estrogen will change the bird's plumage, and 73 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: the increased testosterone causes the crowing and growth of head 74 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: ornaments like the wattle and comb. Scientists aren't sure why 75 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: this happens. Benson said that it's pretty common for ovarian 76 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: disease to cause dysfunction of the ovaries, yet spontaneous sex 77 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: reversal is much less common. He said, you couldn't simply 78 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: remove an ovary from a hen and generate a spontaneous 79 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: sex reversal. The exact mechanism underlying Avian sex determination has 80 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: yet to be resolved. So what's a hen turned roosters 81 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: owner to do? Benson said, embrace the fact that you 82 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:46,919 Speaker 1: have a rare chicken. The newly changed chicken is no 83 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: longer going to produce eggs, so you would need to 84 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: get a new hen if you wanted egg production. Our 85 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: anonymous owner wound up having to farm Mr Lucile out 86 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: to another rooster lover once the crowing got out of control. 87 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: She said, we have a subdivision behind our house, and 88 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: although we are fortunate enough to be able to have 89 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: roosters on our property, we didn't feel it was the 90 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: neighborly thing to do. While I miss him, I don't 91 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: miss the early morning wake up call, and I'm happy 92 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 1: he's where he can do his thing freely. Today's episode 93 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: was written by Alia Hoyt. And produced by Tyler Clang. 94 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. 95 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: For more in this and lots of other Croworthy topics, 96 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com. And 97 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: for more podcast my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 98 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.