Phew, although we had a note put through our letterbox a few years ago after being woken for a few weeks by a cockerel to say sorry they are going to rehome him, but they had actually brought only hens and one had changed sex and become a male????????? NO idea if that really happens or if they were duped into having a boy by mistake, but don't count your chickens yet Nippy lol x x

No worries My friends want me to take on a cockerel they have going spare as it were but I really can't do it. Between the budgies, parrot and dogs lie-ins round here are few and far between, throw a cockerel in to that mix and I'd never sleep past 6am again

They don't change sex but a hen can take on cockerel qualities (including crowing) if there are no cockerels around. They undergo a hormone change to do this, they pretty much act like a cockerel without actually being able to fertilise eggs. I've never met anyone who has had it happen though.

Of course they could have purchased them as chicks only to find that one is a cockerel, that happens surprisingly frequently. We get regular phone calls at work asking us to take cockerels for this reason.

Maybe that is what they meant then, we were left scratching our heads for ages about it lol, but was glad when it went

I bet you were

Lol

LOL! I was so amazed to read about the lady boy hens I told my son about it - he said 'Mum where are you reading this $%!*' (I'd only just finished getting him to answer the Class Questionnaire!)

I said 'on my Dog Chat Forum'

His face is a picture!

Ha ha but admit we were the same when the note came through, we thought he'd bought a dud

Thats nothing, I'm now trying to explain to hubby that I (did) make eggs every month but they didn't turn in to chicks without him.
Oooooh see the Cluckingham Palace thread!!

Haha brilliant you guys. I must admit Nippy I was going to say thy make eggs just like we do it's just we don't lay (and they are really the same but you know what I mean!) them but I couldn't put it in to words lol. It's as involuntary as dogs coming in to season. If can be affected by outside factors such as stress and they won't lay if they don't get enough hours of daylight but at the end of the day it's all about the birds and the bees