I believe I have a hermaphrodite chicken

[CityFarmerRob]

I never had a chicken that had 'sex reversal' as you call it, it isn't really sex reversal either...they (chickens) can not do that, if born a hen, always a hen and vice-versa for a rooster! They can be born/hatch as triploids, though it's very rare. And since I've never seen one much less raised one I couldn't tell you if it would lay an egg or not, I would think that the reproductive system would be missing vital components for that to occur!

The other reason for a hen to phenotypically change is the loss of the ovaries. I have had several pheasants have this occur to them. Here's a pic of one of the latest to have lost her ovaries....but she didn't change sex, she is still a hen. She hasn't layed an egg in 4 years, she is 11 years old, she doesn't try to mate with other hens, she doesn't try to fight other cock birds, infact, she still trys to fight (between the wire) with hens in the adjacent pens, making the unmistakable sound of a mad pheasant hen. Just thought I 'toss this out'!

View attachment 3633643
When she first started to get 'cock bird' plumage
View attachment 3633644 Second year of ovary loss. Note: no spurs
View attachment 3633645
This photo taken recently

Beautiful bird! And I again don't doubt anybody and I'm not saying that anybody is wrong or right. I went to a professional veterinarian that I trusted and he told me in his professional opinion that this sex reversal thing is real and could be an absolute possibility. And that has satisfied my curiosity. I'm sure there's a hundred reasons why this should or could never happen, no longer concerned with that. Everybody is entitled to what they believe and as somebody who is not an expert I went to an expert who my trust and believe. And he did not tell me positively that this is what I think it is, but he did say it is actual possibility. So if anyone out there wants to argue the science or the medical reasons why this could or could not happen then please contact that vet. He's a professional veterinarian with a very successful business that can withstand any scrutiny that anybody could come up with. Now I've already given his name and his practice but I've been told that that has been taken down because it was inappropriate. That notwithstanding. I am satisfied, if anyone out there is not then that is their problem. And everybody out there can come at me all day long with books and medical reports and all this reasons for why this is never ever going to happen, you're wasting your time. As someone who does not understand any of this like apparently you all do I cannot form a proper opinion. So until I have the knowledge and apparently you all do I'm just going to have to say this, thank you for your input please I am not looking anymore to banter with anyone about how this could or could not happen. It has been established that this can happen and is a real thing regardless if it happened to Vic. If anybody has any other questions please do not bring them to me as I am a redneck dumb butt! Seek professional help!

 

[007Sean]

Your female-to-male pheasant change photos are awesome! I had a four year old hen that died last year, that for many reasons both physical and behavioral I always believed was born intersex. i inquired about having DNA testing done, but IQ Genetics said testing would only determine the most dominant sex and not show if both sexes were present. I then tried to locate somewhere that did chromosome testing, because as you mentioned, I believed she would test positive for triploid chromosomes. No luck there either. After she died, I settled for sending her carcass off to my my state lab for a necropsy of her reproductive system. Results showed she had an ovary, oviduct, and two gonads that the pathologist thought were testicles upon visual inspection, but were found to be ovotestis during the microscopic exam. (For those who may not know the meaning of the term, ovotestes means the gonad has combined ovarian and testicular tissue.) Here is an article with a description of birds that were found to be triploid. Their described appearance was almost exactly the same as the appearance of my intersex hen.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8257394/

Here is the link to my intersex hen's thread with pictures,if you are interested to see what she looked like. I always referred to her by femine pronouns due to her sweet, mostly hen-like behaviors, even though she was more masculine than feminine in appearance. She was completely sterile; never laid an egg, mated with hens, nor was mated by roosters.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/i-have-an-androgynous-chicken.1504007/

Interesting! Yeah, my hen doesn't try to mate with other hens nor do any cockbirds try to mate with her.
Your bird was hatched that way, ovotestis, my hen having male plumage is because of the loss of her ovaries. When she passes, I'll open her up and have a 'look-see'.

 

[Molpet]

I had a small 16wk cockerel that when I harvested had one testicle on the left and an ovary in the center. He looked like a boy.
Didn't think to take a picture.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I had a small 16wk cockerel that when I harvested had one testicle on the left and an ovary in the center. He looked like a boy.
Didn't think to take a picture.

It would have been interesting to have seen that bird as an adult. From what you found upon harvesting, it may have had triploid chromosomes too.

 

[CityFarmerRob]

It would have been interesting to have seen that bird as an adult. From what you found upon harvesting, it may have had triploid chromosomes too.

For the bird is alive and doing great! He's a chicken and he acts like one. My vet did discuss something about DNA but he was not sure that it would absolutely be on any shadow of a doubt prove this is or is not what happened. Because if this egg hatched that bird would at least have the DNA of the daddy which would have been his daddy. And let me stop you all right there, keep your science and your math and your chromosomes and all that stuff to your selfs please, that is not what this is about. Try to remember, I'm kind of a redneck which does not mean I'm stupid, I am quite intelligent, however this is not my area of expertise. And I am sure that anyone out there who wants to bash me on it, I can bring you into my profession and watch you make a fool of yourself. So bottom line I'm not sure there is ever going to be anything that is going to erase the doubt in the minds of everyone. And please do not take this the wrong way, but I don't care. I know what I know and I know what I don't know. I have many good qualities and some that are not. I've never been everybody's cup of tea and I never will. Sorry if any of this rubbed anyone the wrong way, it wasn't my intention to upset you. And this is no longer about Vic! No matter what he is or isn't, we have all now discovered the truth that this can happen. Whether it happened to Vic or not is irrelevant, the fact that it can happen is absolutely astonishing to me. And so my focus on this subject from here on out will not be trying to prove to anyone that my bird is this or that, but to expand my knowledge and understanding of what happens in these cases and why. And as always any positive input is appreciated. So.. if you don't have something nice to say or constructive to add then please keep it to yourself and have a wonderful day! And please understand that this is not directed at you who posted the comment!! I just feel the need to put this out there because I know everybody reads it in the hopes that it will reduce unproductive conversation for the future. And I think you so much for responding and taking your interest, I really do hope that you have a wonderful night and please again don't take any of this like it's going at you. Reality is if I knew a different way of saying it on the internet I would. Redneck you know?!

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

For the bird is alive and doing great! He's a chicken and he acts like one. My vet did discuss something about DNA but he was not sure that it would absolutely be on any shadow of a doubt prove this is or is not what happened. Because if this egg hatched that bird would at least have the DNA of the daddy which would have been his daddy. And let me stop you all right there, keep your science and your math and your chromosomes and all that stuff to your selfs please, that is not what this is about. Try to remember, I'm kind of a redneck which does not mean I'm stupid, I am quite intelligent, however this is not my area of expertise. And I am sure that anyone out there who wants to bash me on it, I can bring you into my profession and watch you make a fool of yourself. So bottom line I'm not sure there is ever going to be anything that is going to erase the doubt in the minds of everyone. And please do not take this the wrong way, but I don't care. I know what I know and I know what I don't know. I have many good qualities and some that are not. I've never been everybody's cup of tea and I never will. Sorry if any of this rubbed anyone the wrong way, it wasn't my intention to upset you. And this is no longer about Vic! No matter what he is or isn't, we have all now discovered the truth that this can happen. Whether it happened to Vic or not is irrelevant, the fact that it can happen is absolutely astonishing to me. And so my focus on this subject from here on out will not be trying to prove to anyone that my bird is this or that, but to expand my knowledge and understanding of what happens in these cases and why. And as always any positive input is appreciated. So.. if you don't have something nice to say or constructive to add then please keep it to yourself and have a wonderful day! And please understand that this is not directed at you who posted the comment!! I just feel the need to put this out there because I know everybody reads it in the hopes that it will reduce unproductive conversation for the future. And I think you so much for responding and taking your interest, I really do hope that you have a wonderful night and please again don't take any of this like it's going at you. Reality is if I knew a different way of saying it on the internet I would. Redneck you know?!

My previous post was actually directed at the member who posted just before mine and not to you. I have read every single post in your thread and have also posted throughout it. I am very aware that Vick, the subject of this thread, is alive and well. Not only is physical female-to-male sex reversal extremely interesting, but other unique bird conditions are interesting too, including triploid chromosomes which cause a bird to appear as a hermaphrodite. If you are not interested that is fine and ok. It has been confirmed that Vick is male, and since I have nothing more to offer to this thread, maybe I will cross paths with you on another. I hope Vick lives a very long and healthy life.

 

[CityFarmerRob]

My previous post was actually directed at the member who posted just before mine and not to you. I have read every single post in your thread and have also posted throughout it. I am very aware that Vick, the subject of this thread, is alive and well. Not only is physical female-to-male sex reversal extremely interesting, but other unique bird conditions are interesting too, including triploid chromosomes which cause a bird to appear as a hermaphrodite. If you are not interested that is fine and ok. It has been confirmed that Vick is male, and since I have nothing more to offer to this thread, maybe I will cross paths with you on another. I hope Vick lives a very long and healthy life.

I really do apologize if any misunderstanding led to an offense or an insult that you might have felt was towards you! Please trust that that is never my intent, although I am aware that sometimes that is a result. Not really extremely proud of that but it is what it is. And I agree with you, the whole thing with Vic has been interesting but it really has led to a much more important topic and question, this is a possibility so what are the conditions under which it happens?? And that is pretty much my focus from here on out. And like I said in previous post it doesn't matter what Vic is at this point this topic has opened a bigger question?? It can't happen, so why and how does it????? And now this is my curiosity, and if I made you feel in any way insulted, offended or anything else negative please please please understand this - sometimes I offend people by accident and sometimes I do it on purpose. Whether it was accidental or on purpose, I'm sorry and need forgiveness either way. As do we all. Thank you for your interest and I look forward to any comments, advice or education that you can provide for me. I've never been afraid to say, I don't understand that can you please explain it again. But again, I know what I know and I know what I don't know. Hope to hear from you soon, all positive comments and feedbacks and opinions or more than welcome and extremely helpful to us all! Thank you for understanding how imperfect I am, I mean I already know but it's good to know that you do too! And I can't say it again or enough, I am grateful for every comment, opinion and experience that everyone has provided for this. I hope you would agree that no matter what Vic is or isn't, this has led us in a good path of conversation that will benefit us all! Then again it's just me, feel free to let me know what you think. That's what the internet's for!

 

[CityFarmerRob]

I really do apologize if any misunderstanding led to an offense or an insult that you might have felt was towards you! Please trust that that is never my intent, although I am aware that sometimes that is a result. Not really extremely proud of that but it is what it is. And I agree with you, the whole thing with Vic has been interesting but it really has led to a much more important topic and question, this is a possibility so what are the conditions under which it happens?? And that is pretty much my focus from here on out. And like I said in previous post it doesn't matter what Vic is at this point this topic has opened a bigger question?? It can't happen, so why and how does it????? And now this is my curiosity, and if I made you feel in any way insulted, offended or anything else negative please please please understand this - sometimes I offend people by accident and sometimes I do it on purpose. Whether it was accidental or on purpose, I'm sorry and need forgiveness either way. As do we all. Thank you for your interest and I look forward to any comments, advice or education that you can provide for me. I've never been afraid to say, I don't understand that can you please explain it again. But again, I know what I know and I know what I don't know. Hope to hear from you soon, all positive comments and feedbacks and opinions or more than welcome and extremely helpful to us all! Thank you for understanding how imperfect I am, I mean I already know but it's good to know that you do too! And I can't say it again or enough, I am grateful for every comment, opinion and experience that everyone has provided for this. I hope you would agree that no matter what Vic is or isn't, this has led us in a good path of conversation that will benefit us all! Then again it's just me, feel free to let me know what you think. That's what the internet's for!

Stupid autocorrect and background noises and a dumb dog who won't shut up," it doesn't matter what thick is at this point it doesn't matter. It can't happen should have been can happen.

 

[CityFarmerRob]

Stupid autocorrect and background noises and a dumb dog who won't shut up," it doesn't matter what thick is at this point it doesn't matter. It can't happen should have been can happen.

And it's Vic and I'm getting really tired of autocorrect, could everybody who is not human shut up! Sorry about that, it's a little noisy around here?! Please keep the comments and opinions coming, this is pretty much the only internet experience I've ever had that has been actually beneficial and educational. In the future, please be gentle and forgive any ignorance of me. I really do like all the comments and stories and even the challenging ones! Bless you all, I know I found the community of people that I can come to with my passion for birds cuz nobody else gets it! And I do thank you, and I know that doesn't quite covers it sufficiently!

 

[CityFarmerRob]

I really do apologize if any misunderstanding led to an offense or an insult that you might have felt was towards you! Please trust that that is never my intent, although I am aware that sometimes that is a result. Not really extremely proud of that but it is what it is. And I agree with you, the whole thing with Vic has been interesting but it really has led to a much more important topic and question, this is a possibility so what are the conditions under which it happens?? And that is pretty much my focus from here on out. And like I said in previous post it doesn't matter what Vic is at this point this topic has opened a bigger question?? It can't happen, so why and how does it????? And now this is my curiosity, and if I made you feel in any way insulted, offended or anything else negative please please please understand this - sometimes I offend people by accident and sometimes I do it on purpose. Whether it was accidental or on purpose, I'm sorry and need forgiveness either way. As do we all. Thank you for your interest and I look forward to any comments, advice or education that you can provide for me. I've never been afraid to say, I don't understand that can you please explain it again. But again, I know what I know and I know what I don't know. Hope to hear from you soon, all positive comments and feedbacks and opinions or more than welcome and extremely helpful to us all! Thank you for understanding how imperfect I am, I mean I already know but it's good to know that you do too! And I can't say it again or enough, I am grateful for every comment, opinion and experience that everyone has provided for this. I hope you would agree that no matter what Vic is or isn't, this has led us in a good path of conversation that will benefit us all! Then again it's just me, feel free to let me know what you think. That's what the internet's for!

That was supposed to say it can happen