Why is le chochon d'inde can be also said la cochon d'inde?

Question

How come it can be masculin n femminine while le chien cant be la chien n la tortue cant be le tortue and la cochon d'inde can be le cochon d'inde?

Answer 1

You can't have a noun with 2 genders, its either one or the other... It's like humans- you're born either as a guy or a girl, not both (unless your choromosome decided to do a bit of swapping O_o)
And chochon and cochon are 2 different things! In fact I've never ever heard of the word "chochon" before, maybe its a spelling error...? A cochon is a pig, and it can only be masculine.
A 'chien' means "dog", and it's never "la chien" because that's just the way it is. Again, you can't just interchange between genders whenever you feel like it. That's the whole deal with learning another language.

Btw, just found this:
"LA cochon" can also mean "lecher", i.e man with strong sexual desires...sounds really weird if you ask me O_o

Answer 2

Where did you find "la cochon"?
Cochon is a masculin noun, while it`s feminine is "la cochonne".

cochon
(nom masculin)
Mammifère domestique.• [familier] Homme malpropre.• Cochon de lait: cochon qui tète encore.• Cochon d'Inde: cobaye.• Cochon de mer: marsouin.

cochon, nom masculin
Féminin onne.
Sens 1 Animal domestique élevé pour sa chair (femelle : la truie) [Zoologie]. Synonyme porc Anglais pig

Answer 3

"LA cochon d'inde" can't be said, you'll say la femelle cochon d'inde.