PTI
 
Siliguri, May 23: It may sound like a cock and bull story but a hen has changed into a cock by a freak of nature in West Bengal's Coochbehar district.

Partha Sarathi Ghose of the state's animal husbandry department today said that the hen changed its gender without artificial intervention at Kamat-Chengrabanda village in Mekhligunj sub-division.

Officials of the department rushed to the village with the local block development officer after a paper published the news on Tuesday.

Claiming that there were scientific reasons behind the change, Ghose described it as a "rarest of rare incidents" and the first of its kind in West Bengal and second in India after Bihar.

A similar incident was reported a few decades ago in Bihar and published in an American journal, he said.

The owner of the hen-turned-cock, Haziruddin Mohammad, and other villagers were cock-a-hoop at the change after reading into it signs of a "divine miracle".

Haziruddin claimed the hen had laid eggs only six months ago, a few of which had hatched. Slowly, however, anatomical changes were noticed on the bird that started to grow a cock's comb, he said.

Animal husbandry officials requested him to hand over the rare bird to them but he refused as it has been drawing a steady stream of visitors to his house, many of whom are offering coins to the bird.

Animal husbandry officials are keeping a round-the-clock vigil on the bird and are busy surfing the Internet to trace the American journal which reported the case from Bihar as the bird could be a matter of research.