That BBC Doc link I posted has a piece in it stating that if a hen has damage to an ovary it will become more of a rooster, but unable to mate.
Hi, I'm pretty sure my guy is a total rooster, but since I have him in a pen with another rooster and a hen he has become somewhat protective and motherly! The other rooster is very docile too, and loves to be snuggled. He does not sit on the eggs however and has happily eaten many of them. I raised them together as chicks and they get along really well, so I have just left well enough alone. They are really a happy group and are super friendly. He crows, and acts normally other than sitting on the eggs. I have never seen him breeding with the hen. Is it possible he is a priest? Maybe I should have named him Father Happy Feet!
In the wild, so many of the male birds take an active role in setting on the eggs and helping to rear the young.
I have wondered if our domestication of these birds have "bred" out some of the natural instincts of this pattern of behavior in the poultry world.
Just a thought..............
