Thread by @serglesinner

"but sergle, all your chickens are hens, how could any of the eggs have been fertilized"
YEAH EXACTLY... THAT'S WHAT THE SCANDAL PART IS
ok let me explain

there's literally no way a rooster could've gotten into our yard without us noticing, but so like
we've got this chicken, Drusilla
who started crowing last year and stopped laying eggs

right okay. so hens are weird and they can do a fun thing called spontaneous sex reversal
a hen is born with two ovaries and one of them (lefty) grows and develops, producing estrogen and all that stuff that allows a hen to lay eggs. righty remains dormant.

UN
TIL
The hen's left ovary becomes damaged somehow, or fails to produce enough estrogen. when the hen's estrogen levels drop, she's unable to lay eggs. THE RIGHT "OVARY" KICKS INTO GEAR. HEN IS PRODUCING TESTOSTERONE NOW AND LOTS OF IT!

Then hen starts to actually DEVELOP PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES OF A ROOSTER. I'm talking a bigger comb, i'm talkin bigger waddles, i'm talking spurs on the feet, potentially more aggressive behavior, and CROWING.
DRU'S PLUMAGE GOT MORE BEAUTIFUL LAST YEAR
DRU STARTED CROWING LAST YEAR

If that was all that happened in the sex reversal then that wouldn't change the flock dynamic or anything.
buUUT if testosterone levels are high ENOUGH, the right "ovary" (it's technically called a gonad now) develops fully into a male sex organ, called an ovotestis.

THE OVOTESTIS CAN PRODUCE SPERM!!! Then """hens""" who have developed an ovotestis will also try and mount the other hens in their flock.

This is where it gets confusing, because there are still very conflicting reports on whether or not a hen who has done the ole switcharoo CAN actually fertilize an egg. BUT THAT'S MY ONLY HINT. OUR HENS HAVE HAD NO CONTACT WITH ROOSTERS AND I'VE SEEN SOME PERFECT BULLSEYES!!

here's where I'm stuck, because until I can prove that these eggs are or aren't fertilized I Can Never Rest
the only way for me to PROPERLY TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS THAT DRU IS FERTILIZING EGGS would be to snatch eggs out of the nest and incubate them. THEN I could see.

anyways that concludes my tedtalk. i will now take questions