Yahoo News 
Two Scottish hens undergo full sex change
Two pet hens took on new identities when they naturally changed sex into roosters, much to the surprise of their Scottish owner.
Craig Minto first noticed the egg-laying hens Gertie and Dorothy undergoing the bizarre sex change last month, Yahoo! News was told.
Both hens underwent extreme physical changes over the course of one month, becoming larger in size and growing masculine features – such as combs on their heads and wattles on their chins.
The 30-year-old owner, who works at a family-run pub in West Lothian, was forced to change Gertie’s name to Bertie after he awoke to the sound of crowing at sunrise and became curious as to why both hens had stopped laying eggs.
Dorothy, who is named after Craig’s grandmother, is yet to be renamed.
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Baffled by the transformations, he sought help from the Internet to get to the bottom of the double sex change.
Mr Minto told the Daily Record: “I've had seven hens for 18 months, or thought I did. I noticed two had stopped laying eggs and had grown.”
“I had a look on the Internet and there was a bit of information about chickens having sex changes. It can happen.”
However, the owner insists that his transgendered birds have become something of a tourist attraction.
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Speaking with Yahoo! News today, animal scientist Dr Michael Clinton, from The Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, explained more about the rare phenomenon.
He said: “These sex-changes are caused by the ovary becoming more testis-like and producing a more male-like set of hormones. The hormones circulate round the body via the bloodstream and affect the external appearance and behaviour.”
“In adult birds, it seems that high levels of steroids can change the reproductive organ with the result that the appearance and behaviour is altered.”
Dr Clinton added that the changes in steroid levels could be brought on by disease or changes in the chicken’s environment.
Last year, a frightened rooster called Gianni made headlines in Italy when it started laying eggs like a chicken after a fox raided its enclosure, killing all the other hens inside.
