Taxidermy: Rexy The Cockerel (Gallus gallus domesticus), circa 1940-1950, an interesting and unusual Rhode Island cross cockerel which started life as a hen, a full mount stood against a painted faux rock, amidst grasses and fauna, stood upon painted soil groundwork beneath, enclosed within a five-glass table display case, 45cm by 27cm by 56cm, bearing attached newspaper article to interior back glass describing the interesting story - "Rexy's Got So Much To Crow About, Young Rexy is a rare bird- a bird who began life as a hen but is now a cock and loving every minute of it. "He changed sex but don't ask me how," said his owner, Mr Eddie Furse, 62, of Greenfields, Ivybridge, South Devon. "He was laying eggs like my other hens, then one morning he started crowing like any old rooster. He's certainly got something to crow about". Mr Furse bought 20 yearling Rhode Island Cross hens about eight months ago. At first they behaved quite normally, all of them laying eggs. "Then Rexy suddenly stopped laying and I noticed gradually he began to walk a bit different, sort a cocky strut like a cockerel," said Mr Furse. "About three months later he let rip with a cock-a-doodle-doo from the hen house, and he hasn't stopped since." Hormones - And that is not the only change in Rexy. Not only does he crow and has developed a comb and tail feathers like a regular cockerel, he is trying his hardest to increase the chicken population. The other 19 hens are all showing signs of wear on their heads and wings, where Rexy has been mating. And some eggs laid by have had blood shots, a sign that they have been fertilised. Mr Furse, who has been farming most of his life, said he had never known of a bird changing sex before. He thought it could be due to hormones the hens may have been given. Mr James Aley, secretary of the Poultry Stock Association in London, said sex-change hens had been known in the past, but cases were rare. It is due to glandular changes and is always hens that change into cocks, he said. When told that Rexy was trying to become a father and had apparently fertilised eggs, he said: "That is very rare."