The Rooster that Committed Heresy

There is a famous Swiss case from 1474 of a rooster that was put on trial for the unnatural crime of laying an egg. It is a silly story of human folly, as is so often the case. But this strange tale does lead to a deeper and more interesting point about avian gender, how it is radically different to mammals, and how in some rare cases a hen can maybe turn into a rooster. How is that possible? Tune in to find out and we even have a little surprise at the start of the show as well.

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Notes:

• Rooster burned at the stake: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-009-6331-3_13
• BBC story on gender flipping birds: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40016817