Brazil News
PORTO ALEGRE — A horned rooster is drawing attention from residents of Balneário Pinhal, on the northern coast of Rio Grande do Sul. The owner, Anderson Santos, bought the common white rooster, which has two red horns in place of the crest, from a neighbor two months ago and gave the fowl the suggestive name “Chifrudo,” a Brazilian colloquialism for somebody with horns, but also meaning a “cuckold.”
Horned Rooster Intrigues in Southern Brazil
“I paid $20 reals (about $10 dollars) for him at the time, but I won’t get rid of him now,” Anderson told G1. “Chifrudo would be normal if he didn’t have those two horns in place of his crest. He crows in the morning just like others,” said Anderson, who works construction, but raises chickens at home. “But he is the king of the hill, right?” he adds.
Horned Rooster Likely Genetic Anomaly: Veterinarian
According to Veterinarian Dr. Carlos Tadeu Pippi Salle, Center for Diagnosis and Research in Avian Pathology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, he would need to do a thorough evaluation of the horned rooster, Chifrudo, to know the exact cause of the his malformed crest, but it is probably a genetic anomaly, he said.
Horned Roosters
Horned roosters are not totally unheard of, but seem rare. A January 19th, 1934 article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune tells of a two-horned rooster in the barnyard of Clarence Potter in Walterville, Oregon.
According to the story, which had no photo, the horns appeared on the bird’s “comb” when it was a month old and grew in size with the rooster. The horns, which jutted out from the comb, were about a quarter of an inch in diameter and extended out about an inch.
A forum post on the website BackyardChickens references a photo found in the Library of Congress (U.S.) and reportedly attributed to a 1910 article in the Chicago Daily News showing a horned rooster and asking if it might have been a hoax.
Somebody responded by posting some photos showing horned roosters–though not as handsome as Chifrudo–bearing the watermark for a site called FeatherSite. Feathersite shows some horned roosters, but certainly not as well formed as Chifrudo’s. It looks like Anderson has a real keeper.
