Billina was originally named Bill because, as a chick, no one could tell whether she was going to be a hen or a rooster. She was raised on an American farm in Kansas by an elderly woman and her husband. Later, Billina hatched many chicks (their father unknown). She named all of them Dorothy after her young friend and had gold lockets engraved with the letter "D" for each of them. When some of the chicks turned out to be "horrid roosters" she renamed them Daniel.