Aaron von Frank

That’s fascinating, thanks for sharing Joe! If you don’t mind sharing: how old is the referenced Red Chinese golden pheasant hen and what is the life expectancy of the species when bred in captivity?

Aaron von Frank

Carol, I’m sorry the information in this article feels threatening to you. It shouldn’t – and that’s not our intent. We’re simply describing phenomena in our ducks that we see happening with our own eyes and that have been confirmed by expert biologists and other backyard poultry enthusiasts alike. In short: we’re trying to understand what’s true in the world, regardless of what we might want to be true. 

This is not intended as a personal attack, but as an observation: it sounds like you’re trying to stuff a lot of biological complexity into very simple boxes based on certain interpretations of ancient religious texts. This can lead to a lot of mental and social friction because reality is reality, whether we believe in it or not. 

In the human species, most people fall relatively neatly into male (XY chromosomes) or female (XX chromosomes) categories. However, there are also hermaphrodites (people who are born with both male and female reproductive organs), people with ambiguous genitalia, XXY chromosomes, etc. Another interesting variation on the theme is people with 5α-reductase deficiency (like the güevedoces of the Dominican Republic), who are born with feminine genitals but later develop male genitals when they undergo puberty. Also, since human beings have rather complex mental architecture, sometimes the way that we mentally identify with/as our biological sex does not align with our actual biological sex. 

Though relatively rare, all of these are natural, recurring human conditions that take place the world over and throughout human history. These people and understandings are not evil. They’re simply human beings inhabiting a biological architecture that may be different from our own. Now, we could ask whether the increasing rates of people identifying as transgender (especially female teenagers) in the western world is in part due to a social contagion effect, but that’s a different discussion entirely. 

As for other animals: up to 5% of animal species can change sex (two general forms are simultaneous hermaphrodites or sequential hermaphrodites). Simultaneous hermaphrodites are usually invertebrates (certain species of worms and snails) whereas sequential hermaphrodites are usually vertebrates (certain species of fish, frogs, and reptiles). Again, though rare, this is an easily observable and provable reality that anyone is free to verify for themselves.         

Finally, since you seem to be using one of many interpretations of the Bible to underpin your claims, a couple of important contextual points: 
1. Some Jewish scholars also note that there are six genders (in addition to male and female) detailed in ancient Judaism within the Talmud: zachar, nekevah, androgynos, tumtum, ay’lonit, and saris. You can read more about those terms and how they’re translated here: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-eight-genders-in-the-talmud/. 
2. It’s also interesting to note that Genesis Chapter 1 and Genesis Chapter 2 offer very different and conflicting accounts of creation, which you can read and see for yourself. Chapter 1 describes man and woman as being created simultaneously on the sixth day. Chapter 2 describes man as being created first and then woman being created later from the man. In this Chapter, “man” is also described as a plural “them” due in part to nuances in Hebrew gender terminology that do not easily translate into English. Many Biblical and Jewish scholars view “creating them male and female” (Genesis 1:27) not as a binary distinction but as a merism denoting a spectrum of humankind, akin to the way the term “heaven and earth” means the full spectrum of the universe, not simply heaven and earth.   
         
I don’t think I’m evil and I don’t think you are either. So a proposal: I’d like to invite you to consider expanding your understandings and beliefs such that they comport with observable reality. This is NOT me saying you shouldn’t have faith in a particular religion if it’s important to you. But you should also be humble enough to recognize that: a) you might not be interpreting an ancient text in the way the authors intended, b) a text may be open to infinite possible interpretations by well-intentioned people, and/or c) ancient authors did not have the benefit of the last 2,000+ years of human advancements to help guide their authorship. 

In my mind, this issue seems akin to Galileo imploring members of the Catholic Church to look through his telescope to prove that the sun — not the earth — was the center of the solar system, despite what people at that time and place thought the Bible said on the topic. Today, nobody considers heliocentrism to be a threat to their religion or perceptions.  

Aaron von Frank

Female Welsh Harlequins have a gorgeous blue-purple wing bar. Males do as well. Generally speaking, male Welshies tend to have more ruddy feather colorations on their chests, although females can take on similar colorations, especially when they’re in their eclipse plumage. It’s pretty easy to distinguish between male and female Welsh Harlequins when they’re in their nuptial plumage, since: 1) the males develop their bright green head/neck colorations and females don’t, and 2) males develop a drake curl on the top of their tail. However, with our transexual duck Mary/Marty, someone who wasn’t familiar with her situation would swear she’s a drake because she has a green head/neck and even has a drake curl atop her tail. Visually, she looks exactly like a drake. She still sounds like a female with her loud quack vs the typical raspy blurp-blurp-blurp sound that drakes make.

Interesting story about your chicken!

Aaron von Frank

How interesting, thanks for sharing, Robin! Perhaps so, but it may be until next spring or so before you know for sure. When they molt and go into their eclipse plumage, Welsh Harlequin drakes and ducks/hens can look pretty similar. If she’s still not laying or looking more like a female by next spring, you might well have a transexual duck on your hands — or whatever terminology should be applied to a female duck (based on chromosomes/genes) who is displaying the secondary sex characteristics of a drake. Please keep us posted!

Aaron von Frank

How interesting! Thanks for sharing, Mary. Unrelated, but that’s one of the oldest ducks we’ve heard about.