Quantum vero ad avis petulantiam attinet, crediderim etiam pullum illum Gallinaceum, quem Liviam[1] Tyberium adhuc in utero gestantem, exclusisse aiunt in manu, cum exploratura an marem esset par<i>tura, ovum {incubandi} <incubanti> Gallinae subduxisset, idque nunc sua, nunc ministrarum manu adeo fovisset[2] ut pullus excluderetur, non tantum sexum in Tyberio portendisse, ut multi volunt, sed salacitatem etiam et procacitatem eam, qua ille mox famosissimus fuit. Quinim<m>o quicunque nasum concavum, et frontem habent rotundam, et caput sursum eminens rotundum, ut Galli, luxuriosi vulgo putantur.[3]

As far as the impetuosity of the rooster is concerned, it would be my opinion that that hen’s chick which, they say, while Livia Drusilla - or Julia Augusta - was still carrying Tiberius in her womb, she hatched in her hand, insomuch as, in order to get to know whether she would give birth to a male, she stole the egg from a broody hen, an egg she warmed now by her own hand, now by that one of maids until a chick was hatched out, not only she predicted the sex of Tiberius, as many are asserting, but also that lasciviousness and licentiousness for which afterwards he was very renowned. So, whoever has a concave nose and a roundish forehead and a round and prominent head like roosters have, he is usually regarded as lustful.

Verum haud omnes Gallos aeque salaces esse constat, nam quidam eorum a primo naturae ortu ita, teste Aristotele[4] effaeminati nascuntur, ut neque cucu<r>riant, neque faeminas ineant. Sed venerem eorum, qui tentent supervenire, sponte patiantur. Et Theophrastus author est, referente Athenaeo[5], agrestes cortalibus ad venerem procliviores esse. At cum nos agrestibus careamus, interest nostra etiam noscere, qui salaciores in iis sint. Siquidem tales ad partus promovendos in primis agricola sibi comparare debet. Eos autem ita internosces. Sunt, teste Varrone[6], lacertosi, rubenti, erectaque crista, rostro brevi, pleno, acuto, oculis ravis, aut nigris, palea rubra, collo vario, feminibus pilosis, unguibus longis, cauda magna, frequentibus pinnis. Gallinae {etiam non} <etiamnum>[7] aeque libidinosae sunt.

To tell the truth, it turns out that not all roosters are equally salacious: for, according to Aristotle, some of them even from birth find themselves naturally so effeminate that they neither crow nor tread the females. On the contrary they spontaneously bear the sex desire of those who attempt to mount them. As Athenaeus reports, also Theophrastus asserts that those living in the country are more prone to the sex than those raised in poultry pen. But, since we have shortage of those living in country, it is interesting for us also to know who are the more salacious among them. Since first of all the farmer ought to obtain such birds in order to promote births. You will recognize them among others as follows. According to Varro, they are brawny, with red and upright comb, a short, sturdy, sharp beak, tawny or black eyes, red wattles, variegated neck, well feathered thighs - legs or tibiotarsus, long toes, big tail, and plenty of feathers. Furthermore hens are of equal lustiness.

Iulius Caesar Scaliger[8] Gallum salacem maritum, Gallinam salacem matricem vocabat. Quae autem veneris appetentior est, eam noctu iuxta Gallum proximam sedere Albertus tradit, sed hoc inter utriusque libidinem Theophrastus interesse autumat, citante Athenaeo, quod mas statim ac a cubili surgit ad venerem concitetur: faeminae vero magis progresso iam die. Coeundi modus est, ut Aristoteles[9] annotat, Gallina considente humi, Gallo vero superveniente. Inhorrescunt autem, teste eodem[10], Gallinae a coitu: et saepe etiam festuca aliqua sese lustrant, quod idem et edito ovo saepe faciunt[11]. Plinius avibus omnibus duobus tantum modis coitum esse ait, faemina ita, ut dixi, considente humi, aut stante, ut in Gruibus[12]. Post coitum Gallina sese excutit, ut idem Aristoteles tradit, quod ideo facit, docente Alberto, quod per libidinem incitetur in ea vapor, qui membra illius extendit, eodem modo, ut pandiculatione homines corripi videmus, quando coeundi desiderio languent. Quae ratio naturalis, ac philosophica est, maxime in iis, quae sponte marem admittunt.

Julius Caesar Scaliger called rooster a salacious husband, hen a longing female. Albertus reports that at night the hen with more desire for sex roosts very close beside the cock, but according to the quotation of Athenaeus, Theophrastus asserts that the difference between their lusts lies in this: the male becomes aroused as soon as he rises himself from bedding, while the females become more aroused late in the day. As Aristotle writes, the manner of their copulation consists in the hen crouching on the ground and in the rooster mounting on her. According to him, after coitus the hens ruffle up their feathers: and often purify themselves with a straw, and often they do the same thing after they laid the egg. Pliny says that in all birds the coitus takes place only in two ways, the female, as I said, crouching on the ground, or standing as in cranes. After coitus the hen shakes herself, as Aristotle himself relates, and, as Albertus is teaching, she does this because through the lechery in her the vital heat is stirred which extends her limbs, alike we see the humans twisting and stretching like during a yawn when they are bursting to have sexual intercourse. This is a natural and philosophical explanation, especially in those females who on their own initiative yield themselves to the male.

Cum vero nimia salacitas Galli, quae simul cum nimia rixosa libidine coniuncta a Columella vitio vertatur, quoniam pullificationi noxia est, itaque eiusmodi procacitas potius quam salacitas corrigenda est, corrigitur autem ampullaceo corio[13], cuius in orbiculum formati media pars rescinditur, et per excisam partem Galli pes inseritur, quo veluti compede cohibentur feri mores. Si omnino a coitu abstinere velis, poteris verbena uti, quam nonnulli quo quo modo Gallo applicatam efficere tradunt, ut Gallinas supervenire nequeant. Kiranides eandem herbam ad eundem effectum dari ei praecipit in pastum una cum furfure, et polenta. Idem promittit, si Cinaed<i>us[14] lapis cum polenta exhibeatur, qui ederit, Cinaedum futurum, sed penes Kiranidem eius rei fides esto.

Since a too much lust of the rooster joined with a too much quarrelsome lechery is considered a damage by Columella since it is harmful to procreation, therefore such insolence, rather than sexual desire, is to be corrected, and it is corrected by means of leather from skin bottle, and after it has been shaped in a round piece, its middle part is cut back, and the leg of the rooster is let through the cut out area, and thanks to this, as if it  were shackles, his aggressive habits are curbed. If you wish him to abstain completely from coition you can use the verbena which some people say to be effective however it is applied to the rooster, so they cannot mount on hens. Kiranides advises that, in order to obtain the same effect, that same herb be given him in his feed together with bran and barley polenta. The same author assures that if a cinaedus stone is given with barley polenta, the rooster who will have eaten it will become a cinaedus, but let the belief in this matter rest with Kiranides.

Videamus modo, quid commodi nobis Gallorum coitus praestet, quod sane exiguum cuiquam videri posset, quando Gallinae absque eorum opere pariant ova, sed cum istaec generationi inepta sint, totam pullificationem Gallis acceptam referre debemus. Concipiunt itaque Gallinae duobus modis, vel ex congressu cum Gallo, vel per sese. Quae posteriori modo generantur ova, irrita, subventanea, et hypenemia[15] dicuntur, quoniam e vento concepta credantur[16]. Hoc enim ex veteribus non Varro tantum, sed ipsemet Aristoteles, et inter recentiores Albertus memoriae prodiderunt. In Lusitania, inquit Varro[17], ad Oceanum monte Tagro quaedam e vento certo tempore concipiunt equae, ut hic Gallinae quoque solent, quarum ova hypenemia appellant. Aristoteles, et Albertus ex peculiari vento, Zephyro nempe, concipi velle videtur. Sunt qui hypenemia, inquit ille[18], hoc est, subventaneos illos partus Zephyria nominent, eo quod verno tempore flatus illos faecundos ex Favonio recipere videantur. Zephyria ova concipiunt autumno, inquit hic, flante Austrino vento. Hic enim avium corpora aperit, et humectat, et faecundat. Autumno autem abundat in eis sicca ventositas. Aliae vero ova venti concipiunt vere, receptione venti Austrini. Haec Albertus, et alibi, nulla nec temporis peculiaris, nec Zephyri mentione facta, causam adducens, cur ita conciperent, hunc fere in modum ait. Ova venti in avibus concipiuntur ex vento maxime. Rara enim corpora habent, et aerea, et locum ani, per quem concipiunt, vento expositum, itaque vento ad libidinem moventur, sicut etiam mulieres Austro matricem aperientes delectantur, unde menstruus sanguis attrahitur. Fit autem hoc frequenter in avibus propter volatum, et continuum caudae motum, propter quem attrahitur semen ad matricem earum. Hactenus Albertus. Quibus certe vento quidem, sed cuicunque eiusmodi ova accepta ferenda esse innuit, Zephyrum tamen id potius praestare minime negat. Eum enim prae caeteris poros aperire constat, idque alibi ostenderat.

Let us now see what advantage the copulation of roosters provides for us, even if to somebody it may seem undoubtedly slight, since hens lay eggs without their intervention, but since such eggs are unable to give birth, we must ascribe the whole offspring’s creation as due to the roosters. Then, hens conceive in two ways, either mating with the rooster or by themselves. The eggs generated by the latter way are called sterile, windy and full of wind - hypënémia - since they are believed to be conceived because of the wind. This fact not only Varro among the ancients but Aristotle himself, and Albertus among later scholars, have handed down. In Lusitania, says Varro, on mount Tagrus near the ocean some mares conceive at a certain time for the wind, as here - in Italy - also hens are accustomed to do, whose eggs they call full of wind. It seems that the opinion of Aristotle and Albertus is that they are conceived for a particular wind, and precisely Zephyr. The former says: There are some who call zephyrian the hypenemia eggs, that is those products of delivery full of wind, since it seems that at springtime they receive the fertilizing breaths from Favonius. The latter says: In autumn, when the Austral wind blows, they conceive the zephyrian eggs. For this wind opens the bodies of birds, and moistens them, and fecundates them. In fact in autumn a dry windiness abounds in them. But other birds conceive windy eggs at springtime, by receiving the Austral wind. Thus far Albertus, and elsewhere, making no mention of the specific season nor of Zephyr, in adducing the reason why they conceive in such a way he roughly says as follows: Windy eggs in birds are conceived especially by the wind. For they have light bodies and full of wind, and the position of the anus through which they conceive is exposed to the wind, that’s why they are stirred by the wind to lust, as also women delight to open their wombs to the Austral wind, whence their menstrual blood is compelled to go out. This frequently happens in birds because of flight and the continual motion of tail, by which the semen is attracted to their wombs. Thus far Albertus. He points out by these words that such eggs must be meant as undoubtedly due to the wind, but to a whatever wind, he does not, however, deny at all that preferably it is Zephyr which produces that. For it is clear that it is which opens the ducts more than the others, and he will declare this in another passage.