Hen changing colours,scientists studying the phenomenon

The six-year old bird,which was black orginally,changed its colour four times in the last six years without shedding its plume or any other physicial problem.

The bird turned black-and whilte twice in 2009 while it remained pristine white so far this year,Selvaraj,a farmer from Mukkola village,who owns the wonder bird,said.

“The change of colour of its feathers was noticed after it laid eggs for the first time. The balck-coloured bird then became pure white within an year. But its health remained alright and it did not manifest any other abnoramlity. It continued to lay eggs also,” he said.

Accoridng to Dr Oommen V Oommen,a Emeritus Scientist with CSIR,who has been observing the hen since 2008,it is a “rare phenomenon” which deserved detailed study.

“It is an uncommon,freak case. As we do not want tosacrifice the bird,we are attempting external examinations only,” Dr Oommen said.

” Blood and hormone samples of the bird have been colelcted in 2008,2009 and 2010 continuously and analysed. Estrogen (female sex hormone) count is found to be very high in the hen than the normal rate,which could be the reason for the phenomenon,” Dr Oommen,a former Heald of Department of Zoology at the Kerala University,said.

Estrogen could inhibit pigmentation in femlaes.However,this had to be established after further studies including the genetic aspects of the bird,he said.

The chicks of the bird were also being observed as the farmer had reported that one of them appeared to have the same tendency as the mother bird.

The matter had also been brought to the notice of experts of the Banares Hindu University also,he said.