I believe I have a hermaphrodite chicken

[SueT]

Did you open the egg? Is it truly a fresh egg, and is it fertile?

 

[Chicalina]

Can you bring the rooster indoors in a secure dog crate for a week or so and see if "he" lays anything else, in a situation where a hen cannot possibly sneak in to visit him?

 

[Kiki]

I've been keeping birds for almost 2 years which is not a long time but I incubated some eggs to see what would happen what long story short I gave several chickens and I believed by texting them when they were young around 5 weeks 6 weeks that they were female and these had been pulled from a lot earlier that I had tried to sex which we all know is difficult. Well the bird was returned to me because it turned out to be a rooster and so I put it by itself and that's where it's been for the last two weeks well this morning the old nesting box it decided to perch in and poop in had an egg in it and even though there's hens around the coop and in other areas there is not one able to get in there he has been absolutely alone. I know it's rare they say about 1 in 10,000 and it's much more likely to be looked at as a hoax than an actuality but I walked out today and that's what I found.View attachment 3619160

Roosters don't lay eggs.

 

[CityFarmerRob]

Did you open the egg? Is it truly a fresh egg, and is it fertile?

No I didn't open the egg but I did candle it and it looked like a freshly laid egg. I did not float it or anything because I didn't want to damage the cuticle, really wasn't sure what I had and I'm still not. But I thought about go ahead and putting it in my incubator and see what happens. If nothing it wasn't fertilized and if something well then oh boy I really have something to post! So we'll see what happens. And I have heard that a study in quail showed that it was possible for some hermaphrodite quail to lay a fertilized egg or something to that effect, I am no expert by no stretch of the word! Just some guy who was keeping some chickens and woke up to this!

 

[Tstraub]

Following. I’m skeptical but interested to see how this one turns out

 

[Kiki]

No I didn't open the egg but I did candle it and it looked like a freshly laid egg. I did not float it or anything because I didn't want to damage the cuticle, really wasn't sure what I had and I'm still not. But I thought about go ahead and putting it in my incubator and see what happens. If nothing it wasn't fertilized and if something well then oh boy I really have something to post! So we'll see what happens. And I have heard that a study in quail showed that it was possible for some hermaphrodite quail to lay a fertilized egg or something to that effect, I am no expert by no stretch of the word! Just some guy who was keeping some chickens and woke up to this!

Are you being serious?

Roosters don't lay eggs. Your rooster did not lay the egg.
If it is fertilized he may have mated the hen that laid it or one of your other roosters did.

Just because you found an egg near a rooster does not mean that he laid it.

 

[CityFarmerRob]

Are you being serious?

Roosters don't lay eggs. Your rooster did not lay the egg.
If it is fertilized he may have mated the hen that laid it or one of your other roosters did.

Just because you found an egg near a rooster does not mean that he laid it.

And I completely agree with everything you just said. And I've gone over every scenario that I can come up with but in order to get into that coupe somebody would have had to open a lock go into the Maine Coop and then go into his coop and put that egg there. There's been no hen in there since I put him in there over 3 weeks ago. He was returned to me because I gave him away because I thought he was a hen and then he was returned to me because later found out that he was a rooster and was trying to mate with the females and crowing and making everybody upset. So I had to isolate him so he wouldn't get his butt kicked by all the other chickens. So there have been no other birds around him in over 3 weeks and surely no bird inside that area. Sparrows can get in there and you could say someone reached in there and put that egg cuz that is possible if you could do it however you would have to get past a very watchful dog that to this date not even a squirrel has gotten past. He has a tendency to kill anything that gets in the yard and to get in my yard and to do something like that would have not been easy or quiet. I'm having the rooster examined by OSU the Ohio State to determine what's going on because I'm a skeptical as you and I woke up to this! Thanks for your comment and I'll keep you all posted. And as far as a friend playing a practical joke anybody who knows me knows that if you don't get shot you're going to get tore up by the dog if you come sneaking around my backyard after dark.

 

[skeeeter]

Well.. we've not seen a butt pic of the chicken yet... so everyone can only "speculate"... please, if you are serious, post a butt pic showing the vent and pubis bones

 

[CityFarmerRob]

Supposed to have an extra pair of hands tomorrow, so that's the plan. He or she was a bit rambunctious when we put him there and want a little extra control when I do that. But I will.

 

[AusHen]

Only 3 options I can think of if there was no human interference.
1. The egg was already there.
2. A hen laid an egg in there or near there and it got moved around.
3. Something took the egg from the hens are to where the rooster is planning to eat it, but for whatever reason didn't and left it behind.